


Coming Clean: A Tale of Adventure and Revenge

by Firetamer30, StickShift



Category: DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-10-25 16:34:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17728835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firetamer30/pseuds/Firetamer30, https://archiveofourown.org/users/StickShift/pseuds/StickShift
Summary: We all know about how Hiccup trained with Toothless and brought peace to his village. But what if something happened to Berk 16 Years ago. And, what if another island had a similar problem but things turned out differently. This is about two teens who go on an adventure to find out the truth. Along the way, they face problems, danger, and gain more enemies and a home on Berk.





	1. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We all know about how Hiccup trained with Toothless and brought peace to his village. But what if something happened to Berk 16 Years ago. And what if another island had a similar problem but things turned out differently. this is about two teens that go on an adventure to find out the truth. along the way they face problems, danger, and gain more enemy's and a home on Berk.

"Grab your Axes! The Dragons are attacking!" A man with a full brunette beard yelled to the Vikings behind him. He was tall and very muscular like all Vikings were.

Narrator: 'This is Gurand. it's just east of the main shore and south of freezing to death. My name is Skullette. Weird name I know, parents believe that a horrible name will scare off demons and trolls, like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that already. This probably sounds like a story you already know, am I right? A story of Vikings and Dragons.'

"They are headed to the south of the island! Follow them! We can't let them get away!" Another taller, man called. He was large and looked to be the chief of the village with his metal around his waist as a belt. His brown beard was full and braided in many places to keep it in place and his eyes were dark green and intimidating.

Narrator: 'That is Bundar the Wise. He is the chief of this village. They say that when he was a child he killed two dragons from the inside out. Do I believe it? Yes, yes I do. Anyways, if this is familiar, you know that there are a bunch of different dragons. The Gronkle, the Deadly Nadder, the Monstrous Nightmare, the Hideous Zippleback, the Terrible Terror, and finally the most dangerous of all. The Night Fury! No one has ever seen this dragon and lived to tell about it.'

"Skullette get back inside! This is no place for you!" a woman Viking yelled as she followed the others.

"Get back inside before you get hurt!" a smaller man a little younger than the others yelled. He was a newly acquired Viking and was itching to kill another dragon.

Narrator: 'I couldn't just sit by and not kill a dragon. Everyone believes I can't kill a dragon because of what happened. Oh right, you don't know what happened. I caught the village on fire. By accident. No one was hurt and I got the fire out. But the villagers won't let me try to kill a dragon till I have proper dragon training. But that won't happen until spring.'

Skullette followed behind unnoticed by the others. She followed them to the southern side of the island. They were cheering now as the last of the dragons fell from the sky and landed on a pointed like spear of wood. Letting out its final breath as its body slid down the spike and its blood flowed from its pierced body.

Narrator: 'Recently the dragon problem has decreased due to the idea of poisoning the food the dragons take. This was, of course, our chief's idea. The poison was created by the herbs my mother taught me about before the gods, 5 winters past, took her. I was only eleven when she left us. In any case, the poison worked I guess because the dragon raids decreased.'

All the villagers gathered any dead Vikings and headed back home to rest their axes and body's from the late night raid they just ended.

Narrator: 'I should have followed them back or gotten there before them. But something caught my eye that would change my life forever. A Night Fury.'

Skullette, a 5' 6" 16 year old girl with dark blond hair in a braided ponytail and piercing blue eyes that looked like they could see into your very soul; quietly made her way to a wide clearing that was twenty feet below her and a good sixty feet wide if not more. She wore a tight blue colored skin shirt with a black leather skirt and leggings under it, with normal Viking boots to finish it off. She was skinny for a Viking her age but you could tell she did have enough muscle to get her by. A pack of supplies and small weapons were stationed on her back in case one would need the use of them. Below her was a small pond in the middle of the hole with snow and a few trees surrounding the pond. The rocks were covered in moss that was covered by the snow that stuck to everything there. It was only when she got closer that she saw, lying in a bed of melted snow, the Night Fury that had caught her eye only moments ago.

Its Wings were as black as the night and its body was small and light. There was no doubt in her mind that this creature was as swift and powerful as it looked. What confused her was why had no one yelled that they had killed the Night Fury? A prize like that would make a Viking a legend among Viking heroes. So why was there no mention of this?

As she got closer she could see that the dragon still had life in it due to the puffs of smoke that came from its nostrils. If she were to kill this dragon and bring its heart back to her father, all of her worries would be over. No one would look at her with shame and disappointment ever again.

She quickly made her way over to the dragon and removed her dagger from her belt. As she got closer she saw that this Night Fury would not move from its spot. It had clearly heard her from the snow crushing beneath her feet, as she got closer to it, so why had it not flown away. Its wings were still intact and it looked as if it was in excellent health. So why did it not take the chance to get away?

As she finally reached the side of the dragon she could hear from its harsh breathing that it was not in perfect health. Something was wrong with it, but what? That's when it hit her. The Poison! The dragon had taken in the poison from the previous raid. It must have landed here when the poison had started to overtake. That shouldn't matter at the moment seeing as she was just going to kill it anyways. But as she looked into its bright green eyes she saw something that she never thought she would see. She saw its pain and fear. It was scared and looking for any help it could receive.

Skullette turned away from the dragons gaze and held her dagger high above her head. A gruff whine like noise came from the dragon as if begging for her to stop and help it instead of slaying it. She couldn't help it, she looked at the dragon's eyes again. There was a glimmer that spoke to her. "If I kill you and bring your heart to my father, all will be right again. No one will call me weak and a nuisance, I will be a strong Viking warrior." She said to the dragon holding the dagger tighter and over the dragons' heart.

Another whine pierced the air around them. Puffs of smoke coming from the Night Fury's nose. Skullette closed her eyes and readied to strike down on the black demon. At the feel of the dragons head hitting the ground a wave of pity filled her. This dragon was in pain and needed help yet she was a Viking and Vikings killed Dragons! Dragons are the devils kin and Vikings were sent here to destroy them and send them back to Hel.

She took one more look at the dragon before sighing in defeat. She couldn't kill this creature. It needed her, for no one else would help it. She quickly took her pack off her back and dug through it. The dragon's eyes opened at the sound of the ruffling, Skullette continued to dig through the pack to get what she needed which seemed to be buried at the bottom of her bag.

She created an antidote for the poison in case any of the Vikings ate the poisoned food by accident. It came in handy and worked many times, but would it work on a dragon?

She finally found the bottle and took a good look to see how much was in there. Then she took another look at the dragon. Its eyes showed its wonder as it watched her intently. It could easily swipe her away with its tail if it wanted to, but since it was in such pain it couldn't move very easily.

"It's ok. I'm not going to hurt you. This will make you better, I promise. And if it doesn't you can eat me." Skullette promised as she stood up and went over to the pond.

A fish jumped out of the opening in the ice, into the air, and back down into the icy water. She waited for another one to jump, it felt like forever as she did so. Finally, another one jumped and she caught it with little trouble falling on her rear as she held the fish to her chest tightly. She waited for it to stop struggling and went back over to the Night Fury.

"This will help you take the antidote, okay? It might hurt a little going down but it will help." Skullette said as she cut the fish in half and put the herbal medicine into the tail end of the fish. She walked up to the Dragons mouth and had it open its mouth for her. She placed the fish on the dragon's tongue whose teeth a moment later appeared in its mouth and began chewing the meaty fish.

The Night Fury ate the fish completely and rested its head in the snow again.

"Skullette!" A distant voice called. The girl spun around to make sure no one had found where the dragon was. Lucky for her she was alone with the dragon. Turning quickly back to the dragon, who looked to be sleeping peacefully, she whispered in its ear. "I'll be back tomorrow to see how you are doing. I'll even bring some more antidote with me. If you stay here you won't be discovered."

"Skullette!" A deeper voice rang out through the trees.

"I'll be back soon. I promise. See you tomorrow." With that she hurried back up the path she found her way down on and made her way back to the village, only to run into the chief.

"Skullette where did you go off too? Didn't I tell you to stay inside?" Bundar said in a commanding voice.

Narrator: 'oh yeah, there's one thing I forgot to mention.'

"Sorry Dad, I thought I saw another dragon. But it turned out to be a broken branch from the raid last week." Skullette lied hanging her head to make it believable.

"What am I going to do with you?" Bundar sighed in frustration. "Thank the gods spring is on its way. You will learn to be a True Viking! No more of this running off and medicine nonsense."

"But father without this medicine half of our village would be whipped out." Skullette countered.

"Be that as it may, you are the daughter of the chief and as so, need to learn to be a true Viking. Leave the herbal nonsense to the other women. You must be strong if you plan to ever marry. You are already at that age. I at least want to have a strong son in law to run the village when I am gone." Bundar replied as they made their way to the village. His stride was strong and commanding just like his speech.

"Please father not this again. I'm still too young to marry." Skullette tried to reason.

"Nonsense. You will be a strong Viking warrior and be wed to only the strongest of the Vikings."

"But father…" Skullette tried again to reason but she was cut off by Bundar the Wise.

"That is the end of it. Am I understood?" He said in a commanding voice that left no room for argument.

"Yes father." Skullette said dispersedly.

Skullette went to the dragon every day to feed it fish and the antidote. It had taken the rest of the winter but soon the dragon, who Skullette had discovered was a she, was able to stand and flap its wings. To Skullette's amazement the white on the tips of her wings, that she had once thought to be snow, glittered in the sunlight making the Night Fury even more beautiful than before.

"How can such a strong creature be fierce and beautiful at the same time?" Skullette wondered aloud.

The Night Fury nudged her arm and purred lightly in a light gruff voice.

"You know, I can't keep calling you Night Fury all the time. You need a real name. How about Nightingale? How does that sound?" Skullette asked.

She purred louder in agreement.

"Nightingale it is then." She smiled at her new friend and scratched behind her ear.

Finally spring had arrived. Since meeting Nightingale, Skullette has changed her mind about fighting dragons. They aren't as bad as the Vikings made them out to be. They hunt to survive as they did. Vikings just happened to be in their way more than they would like.

When she tried to tell her father she didn't want to fight dragons. He laughed and told her "This is no time for joke's you are going to training and are going to be a prized Viking that any strong man would want for a bride."

'That's all he ever cares about. Marring me off to some strong Viking.' Skullette thought on her way to visit Nightingale.

The Night Fury had long since done without the antidote and could fly away at any time. The only reason Skullette could come up with for why she hadn't left yet, is that Nightingale had become attached to her. She respected her and trusted her. But this island was not safe for the Night Fury. There was only so long that a person can hide a giant creature such as a dragon. She thought of all of this on her way to visit Nightingale and only stopped when she arrived at the hideout.

"Morning Nightingale. Did you sleep well?" She asked putting down a big basket of fish for her to enjoy. Nightingale just jogged over to the basket with a grin on her face and started eating happily.

"I guess that will suffice for a yes." Skullette chuckled. She sat down on a rock and rolled small stones around in her hands. "You know. My father won't let up on this marriage thing. He thinks that all I'm good for is getting him a good son in law to lead the tribe." At the word tribe, she threw a stone across the pond and on to the other side in only a matter of two skips. Which was a feat seeing as the pond covered most of the hiding area. Two-thirds of the area was water and the last third was land.

Nightingale went over to her and nudged her head against Skullette's arm as if to comfort her.

"Thanks, Nightingale. It's good to know I have at least one friend." She said scratching behind her ear and down to her chin. Finding just the spot to have Nightingale fall in pure pleasure.

Skullette smiled at Nightingale's reaction and got up off her rock. "I guess it's time for training. I'll be back afterward, okay Nightingale?" she smiled at the dragon who stayed where she was in bliss.

Making her way back to the village she managed to get to the arena with little problem. It was a large dome-like arena with metal bars surrounding it and chains covering the top to keep the dragons from flying away when released for fighting or training. Once there, she saw a bunch of other teens her age gathered together for training. They stationed themselves around the training equipment so that when the teacher showed up they could grab their needed gear and get started. There were four gathered together talking excitedly about how it's only fun if you get a scare out of it.

Then there was a boy leaning against the wall close to the entrance ramp. He looked to be about 5' 9" medium build with sparkling green eyes and long blond hair kept in a ponytail with a portion at the front separated, not tied back and hanging off the right side of his face. He wore dark brown leather tight pants, with the standard fur boots all Vikings wore, and a dark blue long-sleeved shirt and a black vest over it to finish it off. In his hands, he held a sword that he carefully examined as they waited.

Skullette watched him for a moment longer before an irritating voice brought her back to reality.

"Well if it isn't miss fire head." Torrent said tauntingly. He was about 5' 8" with a strong build, brown short hair and piercing brown eyes. He wore black leather pants, a tan shirt ripped at the forearm and a brown vest covering it. He was one of the toughest Viking teens in the village, or so they say.

"You aren't going to set the arena on fire now are you?" Mudbath called mockingly.

"Watch it, bro, she might set you on fire next." Hogsnot laughed with Mudbath joining in. They were twin brothers, both about 5' 9" with dark blond hair and matching blue eyes. The only way to tell them apart was their hairstyle. Mudbath had a messy mop of short hair on his head while Hogsnot had mid-length hair in a ponytail. They had matching boots, brown pants, and green shirts, the only other difference was their vests. Mudbath had the brown vest while Hogsnot had the tan vest. And both were about a medium build.

"Hey guys, how many Vikings does it take to destroy a village?" Gretchen asked. She was the only girl in the group. She had red hair that she kept down and straight. Skullette figured it kept her neck warm. Gretchen had on normal boots and black pants. Over the pants, she had a short leather skirt with skulls in a belt to hold it up. For a shirt, she had on a tight red shirt and silver armor breastplates to protect her.

"How many?" Torrent, Mudbath, and Hogsnot asked together.

"None, it just takes one insignificant wannabe Viking. Trying to be something she's not." Gretchen threw the insult into Skullette's face as everyone in the group laughed.

"At least I'm not pig-headed like some people I know!" Skullette shot at the group making them go quiet.

"What did you just say pipsqueak?" Gretchen asked towering over her. Where Skullette was 5'6". Gretchen was 5' 9" making Skullette the shortest in the arena and, to them, the most vulnerable.

"Alright that's enough out of the lot of ya. Today ya start Dragon Training. Now ya have to know what kinds of Dragons there are. Who wants to start us off?" A big man with beefy arms asked. He was missing his left leg and an eye but that was about it. He was big around the middle and was about 6' tall. He had a tan vest and a sharp green eye. The normal outfit as well, brown pants, tan shirt, brown vest, and normal boots. "My name is Olaf and I'll make this quick. Since no one wants to share I will. There are 5 types that we face every day. The Gronkle, the Deadly Nadder, the Terrible Terror, the Monstrous Nightmare, and the Hideous Zippleback. You will all face them in time. So to start us off is the Gronkle."

"Wait, aren't you going to teach us first?" Torrent asked in confusion.

"I believe in learning on the job." He said as he opened the cage door.

Out came a Gronkle. "Every dragon has a shot limit. How many does a Gronkle have?"

"Four!" Mudbath called. "Five," Hogsnot said after.

"Six." The boy with the black vest said as a shot came at him and he dodged out of the way.

"Very Good Gunnar." Olaf said praising the young man.

The lesson continued on until all that was left were two shots for the dragon and two Viking in training students left. Skullette who had been hiding most of the time and Gunnar who had been dodging most of the time and getting everyone else kicked out with the aimed fire blasts from the Gronkle.

"Skullette, what else can you do to stop the Gronkle?" Olaf asked as if he was sure she could answer it.

Skullette thought for a moment in her hiding spot when Gunnar came up beside her. "Try water." He said before moving to another area. A shot was hit to the wooden planks that hid Skullette. The shot had destroyed the wood leaving her open for an attack.

Thinking quickly she used her hand and acting as if she was about to hit it with her shield scratched under its chin with her opposite hand.

As the dragon fell, she saw Gunnar stop in his tracks with his sword held high in the air, ready to strike the beast down. Behind him, everyone was in awe of what she did. Out of reflex Mudbath punched his brother in the face, who he had been fighting with for getting them knocked out of the arena in the first place. Torrent had his mouth nearly on the floor while Gretchen looked ready to kill Skullette using just her eyes as the weapon.

"Uh… is that it for the day? Cause I really need to um… yeah, see you tomorrow!" She called as she ran across the arena up the ramp and into the fresh air leaving everyone confused.

Olaf was the first to react. He walked over to the sleeping dragon and put it back in its cage before turning to the other students. "That's it for the day. I'll see you all bright and early tomorrow morning. Have a good day." He too made his way up the ramp and back to his blacksmith shop.

"She can't be that good." Gretchen said in anger.

"It was probably just a lucky shot." Torrent said trying to figure out how the fire starter took down a dragon with a shield in a single shot.

"In any case. It won't happen again." Gretchen seethed making the others back away from her slightly.

In the meantime, Gunnar was trying to figure out how Skullette could have taken down a Gronkle with a single hit to the head with her shield. It wasn't possible… was it?

Skullette was making her way through the trees to the spot she first saved Nightingale. Today had just been crazy. She of all people made a Gronkle fall without causing it any harm. She has to be more careful next time or people will start to get suspicious of her actions and possibly get the wrong idea. Or worse, they could follow her and find Nightingale. She couldn't let that happen. Not even if it meant her life.


	2. Training

Chapter 2: Training

It was just another day in Gurand. Hail falling from the sky making everyone stay inside, around the warm fires. Everyone that is, except Skullette. While her father was away in the dining hall and stuck there till the storm stopped, Skullette was making her way through the storm to get to Nightingale.

In a wide, open area like that, it left little room for shelter. So, she ran through the storm to get to her beloved Night Fury. In her arms, she held a large hide of what was once a bear. Probably two, due to the size of it, sown together to make a strong cover.

As she reached the entrance of the hideout, she could see Nightingale curled up under the small group of trees closest to the other side of the area. She quickly made her way from the entrance and around the pond to the dragon. As she reached her, she took a deep breath and laid the hide over the strong dragon.

The Night Fury just watched in wonder, green eyes wide with curiosity, as Skullette went to work collecting sticks long enough and strong enough to weather the storm. Skullette kept an eye on the dragon as she did so. Making sure she was alright and warm.

Once she found about five thick branches strong enough to lift the now heavy, ice covered, hide; she placed the two longer branches at the back which was closest to the rock wall. Next, she put the three medium sized branches in front. This left air to breath to come in safely and keep the hail and wind out at the same time.

Once she finished setting it up, Skullette went out to inspect it. Making sure none of the branches would fall and that Nightingale would not suffocate. It was good enough to make do for now. After the storm she would have to look for a better hiding spot for Nightingale when this bad weather comes again.

In the mean time she would just have to do with what she's got. Walking back under the hide she sits down to catch her breath against a small rock so as not to get Nightingale cold with her freezing back.

That plan soon failed as Nightingale lifted her up with her dragon tail and placed Skullette against her shoulder, covering the girl with her wing like a blanket. To Skullette it was like sitting down in front of the fire back home. The home she knew years ago when her mother was still alive. It was safe and warm, like nothing could disturb the peace that was there.

Nightingale laid her head against Skullette's right arm and whined softly as if to ask if she was alright.

"Thank you, Nightingale. I'm just glad you're safe." The girl rested her head against the dragons left shoulder and they watched as the hail kept falling down around them.

Hours after the storm had passed Skullette awoke to find the sun setting in the distance.

"Oh no. Father is going to be so angry with me." Skullette said as she quickly took down the hide covering that was now covered in a small layer of ice. Small because some of the ice had melted in the sun. "I'll be back tomorrow Nightingale. And I'll bring you a big basket of fish too." Skullette yelled to the dragon as she made her way back to the village. She heard a faint happy growl come from Nightingale as she reached the top of the area.

As she hurried back home, she stopped for a moment to gather some rare herbs that can only be collected after a good hail storm. Doing this makes it look like she went out to gather herbs rather than just being out for no reason.

Once she was done she held the herb close to her and made her way back to her house. She first stopped at the back of the house to deposit the hide and get her herbal basket and fill it with the herbs she found. That done she went the long way around to the front of the house calmly so as not to make it look like she was hiding anything.

She opened the door and stepped inside closing the door behind her. As she turned around, she saw in the middle of the room, poking at the fire, her father. A look unreadable to her on his face. She tried to make her way around him quietly but that was not to be.

"Skullette. Where have you been? When I got home, I was expecting to see you working or cleaning an axe. Instead I find the house empty and the fire nearly out." Bundar said angrily.

"I'm sorry father. I went to pick herbs. I can only get these after a hail storm. The hail brakes up the ground revealing the roots which it the important part of the herb that is needed. Any other time it can't be reached seeing as the ground is too tough." Skullette explained.

"Not this again. I have told you Skullette. No more herbs, which means I don't want you in those woods alone anymore! Leave the medicines to the other women! You need to train and become a strong Viking! I will hear no more of this!" The strictness in Bundar's voice nearly made Skullette shake in her boots. He towered over her at a near 7' tall.

Skullette hung her head in shame. "I understand father."

"No, I don't believe you do. I am going on a voyage to finish these beasts off; once and for all. While I am gone, I have ordered someone to watch over you." Bundar told his daughter.

Skullette looked up at him in horror. He was treating her like a child and asking her to be a Viking! Instead of glaring at her father and earning a deadly glare in return she merely asked, "And who might I ask, would that be?" Her voice was calm while her temper was growing with rage.

"Gunnar." He replied leaving again no room for argument. "He will be here early in the morning to take you to dragon training." Bundar said picking up his pack and tossing it onto his back. "Train hard. I'll be back, probably."

"I'll be here." Skullette said as the door closed on her. "Maybe." She growled as she placed the herbs in the storage room. It had a variety of frozen meat and herbs in it. The meat was for those days one couldn't leave to get to the dining hall for breakfast or dinner. Seeing as winter has just ended there was only half thawed lamb leg and ribs inside. The rest was all herbs.

"How could he do this to me!" She yelled slamming a bowl down as she prepared to make more antidote. Bundar had ordered more poisoned food and since the only one with the knowledge of the antidote was her. She alone had to make it.

She went against her father's wishes to teach it to the other women and kept the knowledge to herself. She put together the needed leaves and roots to make the mixture complete. She then proceeded to mash the juices out of the hard pine needles into the mixture. This made the mixture stick together in clumps so that it is easier to digest.

Once she was finished, she bottled it and went out to the Dining hall. Because of the storm Dragon training had been canceled until tomorrow. Unfortunately, that meant that they had to face two dragons tomorrow.

The walk to the dining hall was cold and lonely. Everyone avoided her, ever since she set the village on fire it had been this way. They even dubbed her Skullette the Firetamer, for during that fire she was able to move through the blaze with little to no trouble. She even had to save a few people and get them out of their houses when others could not.

Now, she was just avoided. No one wanted to face a fire like that again. She was never allowed to touch any torch or even enter the Blacksmith shop. The only fire she could touch was the one back at her house. No one dared let her touch any other flame.

As she entered the hall, the Vikings that were left, got out of her way and never made eye contact with her. She made her way over to the Dragon Training group and took a plate of food that was left for her and went to another table to eat while Olaf asked where each of them went wrong in yesterday's training session.

"Where did Skullette go wrong?" Olaf asked.

"She showed up?" Mudbath laughed along with his brother Hogsnot.

"She didn't catch the place on fire." Torrent said mockingly.

'Low blow jerk.' Skullette thought to herself as she picked at her food.

"She never moves when she should." The voice was calm with no humor in it. Skullette glanced over at who had spoken for a moment. What she saw was the rest of the students staring at Gunnar. He was the one who had spoken. What he had said was like he was telling a child they did something wrong and need to fix it.

His tone of voice was what made her blood boil again. He was mocking her silently right now. He had to watch her like a child that misbehaves, and he was enjoying it! She looked away before any of them could see the anger in her eyes.

"Thank you, Gunnar. Ya need to live and breathe this stuff. It's our Viking way. Now I want you all to get a good night's sleep. There won't be a raid tonight." Olaf limped away as everyone started talking again.

"Do you think they will find the nest this time?" Torrent asked leaning into the group of four.

"Oh please, they might get close." Mudbath said.

"But they won't find it. That only leaves us." Hogsnot continued.

"To finish them off next time." Mudbath finished. The twins often did this. Finished and started the other's sentences.

"What do you think Gunnar?" Gretchen asked flirtatiously turning to where he was, only to find him gone. "Gunnar?" she called.

The door to the hall opened and all four turned to see Gunnar leaving.

"Gunnar wait for me!" Gretchen called running after him, the others following like baby dragons to its mother.

Skullette sighed as she picked at her food some more. She wasn't feeling too hungry. Who would? First you find out you can't be alone in the woods anymore, and then that you are assigned a babysitter? By Thor's beard, she was 16 years old and she wasn't allowed to have the little freedom she was granted left, before she was married off to the greatest of all the Vikings her father could find? And worst of all. No woods meant no Nightingale.

This realization hit her hard now. She planted her hands on the table and stood up so abruptly that it startled everyone left in the hall. Her eyes were wide at this new-found development. She could never be with Nightingale again, if her father had his way. Her hands slid off the table and she moved slowly to the door in a haze. She could hear whispering all around her, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. Her mind was too hazy to understand. All she knew was that she may never see Nightingale ever again.

She opened the door to the hall and closed it behind her making her way back home. The whispering continued as she went on her way. When she finally reached her house instead of seeing the bottom of the door, she saw feet which brought her out of her trance. Looking up she saw the last person she wanted to see. Gunnar.

Inside Skullette was starting a fire in the fireplace and to her amazement, Gunnar never even flinched. She sat down on the opposite side of the fire and waited for a moment to see if he was going to speak first.

Silence filled the air for a long moment.

"Why are you here?" Skullette finally asked. She never did like waiting too long for someone to explain themselves. At least, not when she was in this kind of mood, she didn't.

"Your father ordered me to watch after you." He said glancing up at her.

"Yeah, he also said that you would come tomorrow early in the morning. So, what are you doing here now?" She corrected him.

"Ah, but your father's orders are exactly why I'm here now." Gunnar said poking the fire. 

"Explain." Skullette ordered. She may have to one day marry a strong Viking but right now this was her house seeing as he father was out at sea.

"My, my, aren't we feisty." Gunnar chided.

"I said explain or leave!" Skullette yelled at him. Her anger was over powering all other emotions at the moment. It was true that she did have a crush on the smooth talker; but finding out that she was being banned from her only friend in the archipelago, was over powering any feelings she may have had at the moment.

"Fine, but first tell me something. How do you feel about this situation?" he asked looking into her eyes.

She steadied herself as his green eyes shined in the fire light as they looked at her. "Which situation. The one where you are in my house, or the one about my father trying to control my life?" She asked a light blush coming to her face. Weather in anger or embarrassment she couldn't tell.

"Both." He said grinning at her now.

He was mocking her again. Or teasing her. Either way he was enjoying her torture. "If you must know, both make me want to truly run away and never return." She yelled standing up angrily. She wouldn't stand for anyone mocking her in her own home. Not even Gunnar.

"Good." Gunnar said smiling. Which confused the hell out of Skullette making her sit back down to try and understand better.

"Explain." She said calmly.

"If you truly don't want me watching you every moment of the day, just say so. I have much better things I could be doing with my time. Like training."

At the word training Skullette's anger rose again but she stifled it, quickly, so she didn't cause suspicion. "I'm listening."

The grin on Gunnar's face grew. "I know that you're hiding something. Something big in those woods. I saw you this morning running out into the woods with that big skin in your arms. Now before you go crazy on me, wait until I'm finished." He said as he watched Skullette go for her knife. "I don't know what you're hiding but by the look on your face when you arrived home, I would have to say that whatever is in those woods is more precious to you than your tribe and your father. Am I right?" He asked.

A stern nod, and a look that spoke seriousness, from Skullette was all the answer he needed before continuing. "Then how about this. I pick you up every morning and take you to dragon training. Afterwards, we leave come here you grab whatever you need we go out to the woods and if anyone asks, we are training. Me being a weapons expert, it wouldn't raise any alarm."

The sound of this plan just got better and better, but one thing bothered her.

"You aren't going to follow me once we are so far into the woods, are you?" she asked, for Nightingale needs to stay a secret. No matter what.

"I won't follow you. We actually both get a good deal out of this. You get to go and do whatever and I get away from those crazy teens. What's that girl's name again?"

A giggle slipped past Skullette's lips. "Gretchen."

"Yes! Gretchen. She is crazy, let me tell you. She asked me if I would show her how to use an axe. Her father is an axe wielding legend around here. She just wants to get close to me. I will be so happy to get away from her." Gunnar said leaning back in relief to prove his point.

This just made the laughter come bubbling out of Skullette. "Have you seen her hair? And they call me Fire Head?" she laughed more. Having Gunnar join in lightly.

"You know if I didn't know any better, I would say you were a real rebel just like myself." Gunnar said quieting down.

"Who knows. I just might be. We will just have to wait and find out." Skullette said smiling at him. What was once a horrible day, just got better. And all it took was a small talk from her so called babysitter.

The next day Gunnar showed up right on time and they headed to the training arena as planned for Dragon Training. As they came down the ramp, Gretchen was throwing glares Skullette's way one minute, and goo goo eyes at Gunnar the next, when she thought Skullette's back was turned.

"A' right you tooth picks. Today you face the Deadly Nadder." He said as he opened the cage. He was up top while all the students were in the arena surrounded by large walls of wood like a maze. "Every dragon has a blind spot. Find it, hide in it and strike." Olaf instructed.

After two hours of running around the maze and avoiding the Nadder, everyone was just about tired out when the wooden walls started to collapse around them. The Nadder had hit a wall hard enough while chasing Skullette that it knocked down the rest of the walls as well. Finally, as the last wall fell Skullette jumped onto the railing that surrounded the arena and clung to it for dear life. As the Nadder tried to get to her.

Gunnar was the one to stop the beast with a swift strike to the jaw with his shield. The Nagger hobbled away from the group and back to its cage.

"Come on Skullette. The big mean dragon is gone now." Gunnar teased standing below the girl ready to catch her.

Seeing this, she huffs and crawls through the gap in the metal bars away from him and the others who were laughing at her now.

"Look at the coward run!" Hogsnot yelled so that Skullette could hear him.

"Told you she wouldn't last a week here! Go home and play with your plants!" Gretchen laughed.

"Don't you listen to them." Olaf said encouragingly to the girl.

Skullette wasn't listening to any of them at the moment. Her mind was still trying to collect all of her current thoughts. Her mind and heart were racing as she tried to catch her breath after being chased by the Nadder.

When she could finally hear what the others were saying, what she heard just made her heart stop and her mind reel again.

"I heard her father is looking for a strong Viking to marry her off too. He's so ashamed of her he can't even get anyone to agree to an arranged marriage!" Torrent told the others. The four laughed hysterically together at the girl's expense.

She didn't look at them. She didn't want to see their faces laughing at her. She could hear it echoing in her head already, for they spoke the truth. She wanted it to stop. Begged it to stop. The next thing she knew her feet were moving away from the arena. Surrounded by trees now she kept running. Nothing mattered any more. Not this village, not her home, not her father. All she wanted was Nightingale and to be rid of this place for good. She didn't stop till she was in the hole where she first met her Night Fury.

As she reached the hole she climbed down as quickly as she could and made her way over to the dragon. Who looked like a black blur currently. She hugged the dragon around the neck and when she stopped for a moment, she could feel the tears falling down her face as she cried.

The Night Fury looked on worriedly at her. Wrapping her tail around the girl, she tried to calm her down and stop the water that was falling from her eyes.

"Oh Nightingale, I don't want to be here anymore." She told the dragon. "I can't live here in this village like this any longer." Her tears slowly stopped as she whipped them away. Then the most amazing thing happened.

Nightingale lowered herself to the ground and gestured for Skullette to get on her back. She looked at the dragon in awe. "You would… really let me ride you?" Skullette asked in amazement.

The dragon purred in her normal gruff voice and nudged the girl gently.

She looked at the dragons inviting back for a moment before reaching around her neck with her right arm ready to pull herself up.

What stopped her was that taunting, smooth voice that haunted her dreams every chance they got. "So, this is what you have been hiding. You are just like me, I'm impressed."

Skullette spun around and looked in the direction Nightingale was growling in. Up on the ledge was none other than Gunnar watching her in a crouch with a smile on his face.

Skullette's face must have been of pure shock because he continued speaking. "So, what do you plan on doing now? Run away and never look back? Doesn't sound like something you would do." He stated. He sat on the edge with one leg raised up with his left arm resting on it while his right leg dangled, and his arm kept him up right.

He looked amazing in that pose as Skullette watched him for a moment. That is, till the Night Fury's growl filled the air again. "What are you doing here?" She yelled up at him. Her anger was more at herself rather than at the boy above her. She had allowed someone to follow her straight to Nightingale. Now she had no choice, she had to leave. She would be shunned for having saved a dragon instead of killing it. And a Night Fury at that.

"I was ordered to watch over you remember?" He said calmly as he picked up something beside him. As it came into view, Skullette was in front of her dragon in an instant.

"You and I both know you don't like listening to orders." She said defensively.

"True but that doesn't mean I can't follow you if I wanted to." He stated inspecting the crossbow in his hands. It was about the length of his arm and looked to be kept in fair condition from this angle.

"So, what will you do now?" She asked watching his every move.

He kept his eyes on his crossbow as he cleaned it and left it un loaded. It was like his most prized possession the way he was looking at it, she noticed.

"Well telling everyone that you have a dragon would be a waste of time and effort. I'm not considered a rebel for nothing and seeing this picture in front of me…" He said as he turned his eyes to the girl and her dragon. "Leaves me wondering how you of all people happened to find a Night Fury and keep it here for so long." He inquired.

"That is a long story and I don't know if I should tell you about it." Skullette countered. 'What makes him think I'm just going to lay my life story out for him to learn about? Wait a minute…'  
"You broke our deal! You said you wouldn't follow me so far into the woods!" She yelled at him.

"You never told me where the meeting point was or how far to go remember?!" he shot back. He had a point.

"Besides we are getting off topic." He said calming down as Skullette mumbled to herself about annoying boys. "Now, I'll make you a deal. Wait till your father gets back from his voyage to leave. In the mean time I will keep your Night Fury a secret, if you do something for me."

"And what would that be?" Skullette asked. Curious as to what he had in mind. It wasn't every day that you see a dragon and a Viking being friendly to each other, let alone seeing a girl about to hop on the back of one and leave her village forever.

"If you still have to leave. Take me with you." He said looking her dead in the eye.

Skullette's jaw dropped to the ground. He wanted to go with her? "Why would you, of all people, want to go with me, the Firetamer?" she asked confused.

"Because, changing sides sounds very intriguing." He answered truthfully. She could see in his emerald eyes that he spoke the truth. He wouldn't hurt her dragon and he wouldn't tell the village of his discovery.

"What about dragon training?" Skullette asked. She didn't want to keep hurting the other dragons just to keep up appearances.

"Just leave that to me and to make the deal even better, I'll talk to your dad about offering the dragons a portion of the food once a month. Maybe even about your marriage situation." He grinned at her.

Skullette blushed at the reminder of her father searching for a husband to marry her off to. This in turn reminded her of the earlier taunting by the other teens. It wasn't fair that she has to be put through a marriage she didn't want, but it was the way of the chiefs. Should the chief have a son they will be raised to lead the village. Should they have a daughter, she will be married to the strongest Viking in the village, despite age.

She shivered at the thought. She didn't want to be married off to anyone. So, looking up at Gunnar, she saw his sincerity and spoke at last. "Very well. But should you break this promise, Odin help you when I find you!" she threatened making him laugh at her.

"Done deal. Now get up here before Olaf comes looking for us as well. Now he would kill on sight with no trouble." He said standing up and holding his crossbow at his side.

Skullette turned back to Nightingale and petted her head gently. "We will leave in a few more weeks. I need to make sure that this is exactly what I want to do." Skullette calmly told her best friend.

The Night Fury gently nuzzled her head into the girl's chest to comfort her and tell her she understood. "Thank you, Nightingale." She said petting her head one more time before going up to Gunnar and making their way back to the village slowly.

As they traveled up and around the island to get back to the village, Skullette couldn't help but think that this was going to be a very long next few weeks.


	3. Trouble Starts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I was so busy moving all this past week, I decided to post two of the chapters. Considering chapter two was supposed to be up last Sunday. In any case, please enjoy and know that I only own the new characters.

Chapter 3: Trouble Starts

"Today's lesson is about team work. If you get a dragon’s head wet, it can't use its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breaths gas while the other one lights it." Olaf said as the doors to the cage opened and the arena was filled with gas.

Gunnar and Skullette were one team, while the twins were another, and Torrent and Gretchen, begrudgingly, were the last team. Each had a bucket and stood back to back to know where the others were located in the gas cloud.

"If that dragon shows either of its heads, I'm gonna…" Torrent stopped as he saw a large figure through the gas. "There!" Torrent splashed the figure along with Gretchen. To their dismay it was the twins who they had splashed.

"Idiot." Hogsnot stated.

"It's us." Mudbath finished.

"How was I supposed to know. You had two heads through the gas!" Gretchen tried to explain. "He's the one that said you're the dragon."

Just then one of the twins was pulled away from the other. "Mudbath!" Hogsnot called to his missing brother.

There was nothing but silence for a moment before a scream came from the gas and Mudbath came running out of it screaming. "Oh, I'm hurt! I am very much hurt."

Hogsnot ran after his twin to help him, leaving his bucket on the ground.

Gretchen grabbed the bucket and listened for where the dragon could be hiding. Torrent was by her side, holding an empty bucket to use as a weapon should one of the two heads show itself.

There was nothing but silence for a long moment. The two could see nothing in front of them, except the green gas that could easily be ignited at any moment.

Suddenly before Torrent could warn his partner, the two were knocked onto their backs by the Zippleback's tail running into the back of their knees. The bucket was emptied onto the floor in the process, leaving Skullette and Gunnar as the remaining team.

"You got a plan to get out of this one?" Skullette asked in a whisper, as their backs were to each other.

"Maybe." He said quietly. They watched for any sign of movement in case it tried to ambush them like it did the others.

One of the heads came through the gas cloud and got very close to Skullette before sniffing her.  
She didn't dare move for a moment. In doing so it made it look like she froze up in fear of the mighty dragon. No one moved for a moment, that's when Gunnar acted. He dumped his bucket of water on its head and waited for a reaction. Sadly, the one he got wasn't the one he wanted.

The dragon opened its mouth and out flowed the green gas. "Just great." He said in dismay.

The head blew gas on him making him back up in case its other head decided to show up and set him on fire.

An instant later the second and sparking head came into view and right up to Skullette as well.  
"Now Lass!" Olaf called from the ramp entrance, behind her.

Skullette tossed the water at the dragon head, who had moved to look at her from above, only to miss by inches. Sighing in defeat she brought it down to eye level and that's when she understood Gunnar's plan.

She moved the bucket from side to side as if she was going to hit the dragon with it. As she did so the Hideous Zippleback moved away from the offending object. Everyone watched as she moved more confidently, making the Zippleback move back into its cage.

"Back. Go back into your cage!" As she reached the inside of the door so no one could see what she was doing she pulled the slimy eel out of the bucket and through it in the cage. "Now you just think about what you've done."

As she moved away from the entrance, Gunnar came up to one of the doors and started pushing it so it would close. Skullette, understanding, went and started to close the other door. Once it was firmly shut, they smiled lightly to each other and then turned around to see the four teens and Olaf staring at them.

"Is that it for today?" Skullette asked "Cause, I really need to um… yeah, I'll uh, see you tomorrow." Skullette said as she took off for the ramp and out into the fresh air with Gunnar on her tail.

They quickly headed off to her house to get a basket of fish and her herb basket from the storage area.

"How did you know that the dragons didn't like eels?" Skullette asked as she grabbed her empty basket.

"I noticed that they left the Eel baskets alone when they were collecting food in the last raid." He explained picking up the basket of fish and then his crossbow.

Skullette grabbed her bow and quiver of arrows and they headed out and into the woods. That's when one of the villagers stopped them half way.

"And where do you think you're going? You're not allowed in the woods Skullette." The woman said sternly.

"It's alright. We're just going out for some training. I won't let her out of my sight, promise." Gunnar explained before the woman could drag them back to the house.

"As long as she doesn't go herb hunting. Her father made it very clear that she is not to collect any more herbs." She declared to the two. "Speaking of which I need the Antidote formula dear."

"You won't need it for a while. I have enough back at the house to last us until the end of next winter." She explained. She would die before giving away her antidote recipe. It was the only thing she could hold over her father's head at the moment.

The woman thought about it for a moment. "Very well. But see that you write it down so if anything should happen, we can have it." With that last statement she walked off to do some chores.

The two teens soon made it into the woods with no more trouble. Making sure no one was following them, they went to the clearing in the ground where Nightingale stayed.

After dumping the fish out for the Night Fury, they sat down and relaxed for a moment. Dragon training was tiring and running all the way from there to the middle of the island was just as taxing on their bodies.

"Do you intend to give the women your formula?" Gunnar finally asked after the long silence. By now Nightingale had finished her fish and was laying down next to Skullette protectively. She was still wary of the weapon wielder and wouldn't leave Skullette to face him alone.

"No, I don't. Should I be forced to marry someone I don't love, I will threaten to kill myself and the secret of the antidote along with me." She explained sternly. The seriousness in her voice worried Gunnar slightly.

"Do you really hate the fact that you have to marry someone?" He asked looking into her eyes for the answer.

"Marry, no. Someone I don't love or care for, yes." She adjusted the string on her bow to make it tighter. It had been loosening due to overuse recently.

She didn't like close combat too much. She was one to keep a distance and strike quietly.

"And if that ever happens?" Gunnar asked. He tried to hide his worry, but it came through, slightly, in his voice. "What are you going to do?"

"If worse comes to worse… I will have to make good on my promise. But being the chief's only child I don't think that we have anything to worry about." She calmly stated. She looked over at her best friend and petted her head gently.

"What about Nightingale? What will she do if you do have to kill yourself?" he asked. He couldn't see her killing herself over something that she can possibly get out of.

"If that does happen, and I'm not saying it will, I want you to watch after her. Can you do that for me?" By now both the girl and the dragon were looking at him waiting for his answer.

"Fine, but I warn you, I might have to stop you before you get anywhere close to causing yourself any permanent damage." He said turning away from them now. "I do still have to watch over you."

She scowled at him. "Don't remind me. It's bad enough that he's forcing me to marry someone I don't know and don't love, but to make someone watch over me as if I'm a child. Does that seem like he's trying to turn me into a True Viking? Or Keep me locked away to hide his shame of me being his daughter?" she asked angrily. A rumbling came from the dragon's throat trying to calm her.

"Well it does sound like he's trying to hide you away, but I think it's more like, he wants you to be a real Viking so you can be free to make your own choices." He said trying to understand.

"You don't get it do you!?" She said standing up, angrily, in front of him. "I will never be free! I will be bound to do a man's will every day of my life! To bed him whenever he asks. To give him heirs and to clean up after him. The only way for me to be free is to…" She stopped to breath slowly and calm herself down again.

"Run away?" Gunnar suggested. He was rather relieved she had calmed down now.

"I don't even know why I am telling you all of this. It's none of your business anyways." Skullette said sitting down and looked out at the pond in thought.

"Maybe it's because I'm the first human who actually sat down and talked to you normally, instead of fearing that you would start a fire on them." He stated. He wasn't trying to poke fun at her like the other teens did. He was just trying to get her talking again. So much anger and frustration can make people go mad sometimes.

"We need to figure out what we are going to do next. My father and the rest of the Vikings should be coming home soon. They only ever leave for a few weeks, around this time of year, because of the ice. I would have to say we only have maybe a weeks' time before their return." Skullette stated.

"That soon huh? Thought they might stay out a bit longer than that." He said sharpening one of his arrows.

"Yeah well, you know how Vikings are. We have stubbornness issues and being a Viking is an occupational hazard." They both laughed slightly at this, knowing full well that she was right. "Besides I have had enough of looking over that dragon manual. It's like they are trying to turn us into killing devices that they can control." Gunnar nodded in agreement.

"If I have to look at that manual again, I'm going to shove it down Olaf's big fat throat." Skullette giggled lightly at his statement. She could just see him doing so and, Olaf with that big manual in his mouth is quite the sight to see. Of course, after a week of reading that manual she was half tempted to do the job herself.

"Back to the problem with your father." Gunnar said clearing his throat to get her attention. "What do you intend to do?"

"I'm not sure yet. I know I will have to face him about dragons and Vikings working together but I don't know how to go about doing so." She confessed looking down at the ground sadly. She will have to face her father, but will she be able to?

"In any case, why don't we practice what we are going to do in the ring tomorrow." He stood up and stretched his arms and legs to get them moving again.

"Why?" Skullette was confused how could they train when they don't even know which dragon they are going to be facing next?

"Because, it involves your dragon." He said smiling at them.

Skullette and Nightingale shared a confused look before looking back up at him waiting for an explanation.

"A' right little Vick's, it is now time to face the Terrible Terror!" Olaf said while lifting the wooden log that kept the gates to the cage sealed.

Instead of seeing a giant dragon as they had thought would come from the doors, only a small lizard like dragon came from a smaller door at the bottom of the larger door. It was green with red on the top of the head, back and tail.

"That little thing?" Hogsnot laughed.

"That is a waste of time!" Mudbath joined in with his brother.

Suddenly both were running away from the little dragon's fire as it chased them around the arena. Only when a small light hit its scales and got its attention did it stop and watch the small light. Following it as it tried to get away, the Terrible Terror used its claws to try and grab the annoying light. What everyone else could see was Skullette waving her shield in front of the dragon as it followed her back to its cage.

Everyone was shocked at this. How was she doing this and how did she suddenly get so good?

She moved just in time to watch the little Terror go back into its cage and she quickly closed the small door while Gunnar closed the gates once again.

Everyone was silent for a moment and Gretchen just seemed to look ready to kill Skullette, as if she was one of the dragons in the cages.

"Well done Skullette. Your training is certainly paying off." Olaf complimented as he headed back up the ramp. "Be back here bright and early tomorrow morning." He laughed.

"That was incredible." Torrent said as he walked up to Skullette. "How do you do it?"

Before she could answer Gunnar interrupted. "Sorry, but it's time to go now Skullette." He said pulling her arm gently towards the ramp back to the real world.

"Something isn't right here, and I am going to find out what." Gretchen seethed.

"Oh, don't get your hair," Started Hogsnot. "In a knot." Mudbath finished.

"Maybe she's just jealous cause Gunnar is hanging around with Skullette instead of her." Torrent said teasingly. This caused him to get a bloody nose courtesy of Gretchen's fist hitting his face.

"That's enough out of all of you. She is not going to take him away from me." She growled as she stomped up the ramp and went home to rest.

The following day they had to face the Gronckle again. This time Skullette was prepared for it. Gunnar and she had discovered that Dragon's liked a certain plant and became very calm when they smelled it.

Gunnar attracted the Gronckle and brought it around to where Skullette was hiding and got out of the way before she hit him in the head, when her fist went in front of the Gronckle's nose. As the dragon breathed in the scent of the plant, is started to relax and followed the scent in her hand as she moved it back and forth. The Gronckle became calm and fall to the ground, rolling onto its side.

As the week went on, things continued as they were. Skullette was placing first followed by Gunnar, with Gretchen coming in third. The other three where decent dragon fighters but not as good as the others.

Finally, after two and a half weeks of waiting the ships had finally returned. Olaf was there to greet them canceling dragon training so the others could say hello to their parents after their long trip.

"Did you find the nest?" Olaf asked as he greeted the chief.

"Not even close. I hope you had better luck than me." He groaned as they made their way up to the village.

"If you mean your Daughter has found the true Viking spirit, then yes." Olaf said in praise.

Bundar looked at the blacksmith confused. "Skullette?"

"Who would have thought she was so skilled." Olaf said. "She has even placed first in training." He said to the chief hoping to fill the man with pride.

"I will have to see such a feat for myself. Where can I find her?" he asked

"Well she and Gunnar usually train in the woods around now but seeing as today is your return, you might find them at your house." Olaf suggested.

"Has she given up on her herbs?" the chief asked warily.

"Well, I haven't seen her sneak out to get any. Her basket has even been burned by one of the other Viking women. So, I suspect all that's left is what you have at home."

"And did she give the women the antidote formula?" he asked to make sure his troubles were truly over.

"I believe so. I saw her give somethin' to the other women in the healing hut not three days ago." Olaf explained. By now they had reached the top of the hill and were next to Olaf's blacksmith stall.

"Very good. Then maybe the marriage will go off without a hitch!" Bundar said excitedly.

"Oh, you found someone that will take her hand?" Olaf asked slightly surprised. He hadn't been home for more than a few minutes and he already had a man willing to marry his daughter?

"Yes, the lucky man's father was on the ship on the journey home." Bundar explains. "His son is a fine young man, so he's tells me. A real Viking, he was even in your training group." He said excitedly.

"What is the boy's name?" Olaf asked surprised.

"Torrent. A fine, strong, young man that will make a fine son in law one day. Am I right?" He asked hoping for a good response.

"With a bit more trainin' he will be perfect. Now why don't ya go tell your daughter the good news." Olaf suggested.

"Very good. We have decided to have the wedding right after the final training session." Bundar said happily.

Olaf was slightly skeptical about the wedding, something didn't sit right in his stomach about it. But the chief looked so happy right now. He didn't want to bother him with something that could just have been something he ate. "Sounds wonderful. Tomorrow is the final trail before the killin' of the dragon. And with your daughter in first position, if all goes well tomorrow, she will be the one to slay her first dragon."

Pride was glowing off of Bundar. "Splendid, now to tell my daughter the good news." He said walking off towards his hut.

Meanwhile Gunnar and Skullette had just returned from the woods. They had visited Nightingale early that morning because of the arrival of the ships. As predicted, they had arrived the day Skullette had said they would. As they reached the house Skullette looked over her shoulder and saw her father talking to Olaf and then head this way.

She quickly pushed Gunnar inside and started tidying up. Putting the clothes away hiding the pelt she had been working on and fixing something to eat over the now reasonable fire that Gunnar had made.

She had just sat down to stir the pot when her father walked in. Gunnar was on the other side of the fire pit, more in the shadows than in the fire light. Bundar was so happy at the news that he didn't realize Gunnar was there at all, not even as he sat down in front of the boy. (A/N: Gunnar is behind him in the shadows if anyone didn't understand that last sentence.)

"How have you been doing Daughter?" Bundar asked as he tried to keep his voice level and as calm as he possibly could.

Gunnar said nothing as he just watched the scene before him unfold. He wanted to know all of the information before he tried to do anything.

"I have been fine Father. Did your trip fare well?" Skullette asked as she stopped her stirring and looked up at her father.

"We didn't find the nest." He stated calmly. Skullette had to restrain herself from smiling at this bit of news. "However, I do come baring wonderful news." Bundar replied more happily then he was a moment ago.

Skullette had to calm herself as she awaited the news that he had for her. "And what would that be father?" she asked. Her voice was calm enough, but Gunnar could tell from being around her so much that she was afraid of what he was going to tell her.

A rock felt like it hit the bottom of both of their stomachs when Bundar stated, "I have found a man who will take your hand in marriage. His name is Torrent and you both will be wed after you slay your first dragon!" The smile he had would not leave his face. Not even after seeing his daughter’s eyes fill with horror and tears. "This is a happy day! I will go and announce it to the whole Village. Be sure not to burn dinner won't you." He laughed as he left the house, the door slamming gently as he did so.

It was then that Gunnar revealed himself to her once again. His face nearly matched hers. Before he could stop her, she was up and out the door faster than a Night Fury during a raid. "Skullette wait!" He moved the pot out of the fire as he ran past it and followed her. She ran all the way to the farthest pillar of rock and climbed the slippery slope until she could stand on top of it.

Gunnar was trying to talk her out of it before she made a big mistake. "Please Skully." He called to her. He had recently been calling her this because it was much easier to say than Skullette and at a time like this, much faster. "I can still talk to your father, remember! Now come down before someone sees."

She looked at him for a moment contemplating her choices. Finally deciding she could do the deed before the wedding, she came down and sat on the ledge of the island for a long while. Gunnar was trying to calm his racing heart now that the chief's daughter was safe again.

Once calm again, he looks at the sad girl beside him. "Do you promise not to try and kill yourself again if I go and talk to your father?" he asked looking at her seriously.

"Yes, just try to not get yourself killed, alright?" She asked sadly looking up at him.

He nodded and then headed off in the direction of the girl's father. He passed many excited Vikings busy doing one thing or another. He knew why, but he wanted to make it look like the news had not reached him yet. Finally, he found the man he had been searching for.

"Bundar sir, I wish to speak with you." He said calmly. Bundar dismissed the Vikings around him so that they may talk alone.

"What is it Gunnar?" he asked. His happy demeanor was still in place as they spoke.

"Over the time I have known your daughter, keeping her out of trouble and what not. I have come to love her and so I ask for her hand in marriage."

There was a silence before Bundar laughed out right in the boy’s face. "Boy, you may have taught her a few things and made her change her ways, but she has already got a future husband. They will be married after my daughter kills her first dragon." He said still laughing lightly.

"Then allow me to prove myself better. Should I win tomorrow's duel against the dragon I will marry Skullette. Should she win you have to offer a portion of our food for the dragons to take once every moon cycle." Gunnar stated firmly.

Bundar stopped laughing at this request. "Are you mad boy? Are you siding with them? To give them our food is to say we surrender! I will not have it!" He yelled at Gunnar.

"They aren't dangerous!" Gunnar yelled back at him. Earning him a whack from Bundar the Wise, sending the boy into the wall.

"You listen to me boy. If you continue to side with them, then I will have you banished from this tribe!" Bundar said standing up taller to face the young Viking prodigy.

"Come at me then." The boy threatened.

Bundar had him by the throat 3' off the ground at this point. "So be it!" He said raising his free arm into the air, clenching his hand into a fist.

The following day, Skullette had gotten up early to take the pelt to Nightingale. She had a very bad feeling about today, something in her gut told her to be ready to leave soon. She placed it in a large basket along with a few rolled up cloths filled with food and some spare clothes. She managed to pack all of her herbs and healing supplies in a smaller bag and brought it to Nightingale's hiding place yesterday.

So, now, no one saw her as she snuck out the back with the basket as well as her bow and quiver on her back. Should her father be up when she got back, she can say she was merely training not too far into the woods.

When she finally got there, what she saw surprised her. Gunnar was sitting on the cold ground unconscious. She moved over to him quickly to make sure he was alright. When she could see him up close, she was not pleased. Cuts and bruises were all up and down his arms and legs. But his face was the worst off. He had a bloody nose, a swollen eye and a cut lip and cheek.

"Gunnar. Gunnar!" She called trying to wake him.

She received a pained whine before he fell back into unconsciousness. She went and grabbed her medical bag after dropping off the larger basket before hurrying back to him.

She quickly got to work on his cuts and bruises by laying a thin layer a berry paste over them and then wrapping them in strips of cloth that she can wash and re-use. When she finished his arms and legs she went to try and wake him up when she looked into two deep pools of green emerald staring right back at her.

"You think you can do the same to my back?" He asked in a hoarse voice.

She nodded and he lifted the back of his shirt after, with much difficulty, taking off his vest. There were mostly just bruises on his back, but they looked like someone had thrown rocks at him and not just small rocks, these had to have been bigger than her head.

Once she was done, she turned him around and finally asked, "Who did this to you?" her voice showed her worry, even if she didn't mean to.

"Your father has a mean punch. In the end, I did manage to give him a good fight, but I lost. So, he banished me, for siding with dragons. Before that, I tried to talk him out of your marriage. He fully intends to marry you to that ignorant prick." He explains, sitting upright and putting his vest back on over his shirt.

"How were you going to try and talk him out of it?" She was curious as to how he intended to break her arranged marriage with idiot Torrent.

"That's not important. Right now, they have moved the wedding up to tonight after you slay your first dragon. Because I was banished you win today's fight by default and there for, you will kill the dragon.


	4. Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for this chapter being a few days late being posted. This weekend was rather crazy. Enjoy.

The shock of this news was evident on Skullette's face as Gunnar looked as her seriously. He wasn't joking. She was really going to be made to kill a dragon.

She shook her head in disbelief. No, the plan was for him to face the dragon. He was to win today's lesson earning him the right to face it. Not her. "What are we going to do?" Skullette asked in a desperate voice.

"You're going to go into that arena and show everyone that dragons are not dangerous." Gunnar said sternly. Thanks to Skullette's mixture, he was feeling better already. "And if me or Nightingale see that it's not going as planned, we will come and save you before we make our way to somewhere new. Your father isn't the understanding person the people in the village say he is." He explained before resting on the floor again.

"You promise?" She asked making sure he was serious and wasn't just going to leave her there.  
He gestured for her to come closer. And seeing how beaten up he was and how tired he must be she obliged. As she came closer, she tilted her head so her ear was closer to his mouth so he could whisper to her what he wanted to say. Instead she felt a pair of soft lips touch her cheek as her eyes went wide. When the lips moved away, she turned her head back to look at his face directly. A smile was adoring his beaten features, but his eye was looking better than it was when she first showed up. "I promise."

She smiled down at him as all of this sunk in. That is, until Nightingale's growl pierced the air. Skullette turned around to see Nightingale standing with her back to the girl growling at something on the cliff. Peaking around the Night Fury Skullette could now see Gretchen standing at the top of the cliff looking down at them. Well, at the Night fury who was blocking the view of the two teens.

Instead of facing the dragon on her own like Skullette had thought, the girl turned around and started running back toward the village.

Skullette quickly looked back at Gunnar as if asking if he was going to be okay.

"Go, I'll be fine. Just hurry and beat her to the village." He said getting up slowly.

"Alright, just don't try and over work yourself." She said before getting to her feet and running as quickly as she could up the slope and back to the village.

As she reached her house, she went through the back door and took a deep breath to calm herself. Once her breathing was normal again, she heard a knock at the door. Inwardly smiling she went to the door and opened it. Outside was Olaf with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Is your father home Skullette?" He asked urgently.

Before she could respond there was a commanding voice from behind her. "I am, what seems to be the problem?" Bundar asked as he came to the door.

"It seems Gretchen is going on about some dragon she saw in the woods and claims to have seen your daughter with it." He explained.

"As you can plainly see, my daughter has been here sleeping until you came to our door." Bundar explained.

Skullette had figured he had been awoken by the knock on the door. This was a lucky break for her. Her father thought that she was home when Gretchen saw her and Nightingale in the woods. 'The Gods must be smiling on me today. Please last.' She thought to herself.

"You better go and explain that to the villagers before there is trouble." Olaf suggested before going back down the hill to where a group of Vikings were surrounding the teen girl in the middle.

Bundar and Skullette followed Olaf to the group. "What is going on here?" Bundar's voice boomed making everyone quiet down.

"There she is! Tell them Skullette, you have been with a dragon! I saw you, so don't go denying it!" the girl yelled at her.

Before Skullette could utter a word, her father spoke up for her. "She has been at home sleeping until Olaf had to come and disturb us because you were spreading these lies about a dragon and my daughter. Now all of you go back about your business. And as for you girl, I will hear no more of these lies. Am I understood?" He said threateningly glaring at her.

Gretchen could only nod at the chief. But the moment his back was turned she glared at Skullette with complete hatred. "I know what I saw. You won't get away with it." She growled quietly at her.

"You have no proof." Skullette said back before walking away calmly.

A little later that day, Skullette was preparing herself to face the toughest of the dragons in the arena. The Monstrous Nightmare. All around the outside of the arena, the villagers where cheering her on waiting in anticipation for her to slay the dragon.

Little did they know, that just above them, high above so no one could see, Nightingale and Gunnar were hiding. Waiting for the perfect moment to step in if need be. And knowing her father; that would be sooner than Gunnar or Skullette would like.

Back in the arena Skullette walked out into the middle of the arena. Grabbing a shield and a small dagger, she readied herself.

Slowly the logs keeping the doors to the cage closed were lifted away and all was quiet for a moment. Suddenly the doors were blasted open from the inside. Out stepped, in a blazing fire, the most ferocious Dragon Skullette had ever seen. The Monstrous Nightmare.

This was the largest of the dragons. Its large jaw was full of razor-sharp teeth that could tear the skin off the bones in one good chomp. Its body was four times larger than her father and was about 12' long. Its red and black scales glittered off the flames that surrounded its body.

Using the tips of its wings as feet, it moved swiftly around the arena looking for a way to escape. As it moved, the flames on its body started to dissipate. It let out a fire ball into the crowd who moved out of the way quickly. Finally, it stopped. Hanging upside down and looking at the only one in the arena, Skullette, with narrowed eyes.

It moved to the ground with little trouble and advanced on the girl slowly. Skullette backed up slowly, showing little fear and dropped the dagger and shield as she did so. "Easy, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." She said calmly. As reward the dragon stopped growling and sniffed her cautiously while still advancing slowly. The distance between them got smaller as Skullette stopped her retreat and allowed the dragon to come to her.

Up in the stands her father was not pleased. "What is she doing? Is this what you taught her to do?" He asked growling at Olaf.

"No, I don't know wha' she is doin'? But the dragon isn't attacking her. Why is tha'?" He asked aloud.

"It doesn't matter! She will kill the dragon, or she will not leave the arena!" Bundar said getting out of his seat and walking to the rail, hammer in hand.

From above, Gunnar could see the chief move from his seat to the rail, helpless to do anything, he watched in worry. "This isn't good. I had hoped he would have waited a few more minutes but I guess not." He said to himself while Nightingale started to fidget slightly. He patted the head of the nervous Night Fury. "Easy girl. We won't let anything happen to her." He soothed the dragon slightly.

Back in the arena Skullette and the dragon were nearly touching now. The Monstrous Nightmare was, in the best possible sense one can have over the dragons many vocal sounds, purring. It had not attacked for some time now and everyone was looking at her as if she was insane.

"Skullette!" the booming voice of her father came from the stands. "Fight and kill the dragon!" He ordered. She would have normally obeyed, but this was her chance to change her tribe. With everyone watching she could show that dragons were not what they seemed. That they didn't have to kill them.

Looking up at her father with a fire, that no one had ever seen in the girl's eyes before, blazed as if it would shoot out at her father at any moment. She took in a deep breath and with all the mental strength she could muster said as calmly as possible, "No."

Gasps where heard from the entire crowd. No one dared tell the chief no, for fear they would lose their heads. It was even more surprising when his own daughter refused his demand.

"You will do as I say! You will kill this dragon and marry Torrent tonight!" He yelled.

Skullette was able to keep the dragon calm while they had this small conversation in front of the entire village. "I would rather die than marry that self-absorbed little urchin." She said calmly back to her father. On the inside she was scared but she would let no one see her fear at the moment. This was her time to show she was strong without showing force.

"I Said Fight!" Bundar brought his hammer down on the bars of the arena bending them down in an arch.

The dragon as well as Skullette were startled by the action. The Nightmare started growling at her once again. Having no more mental courage she ran out of the way as the dragon shot fire at her. She ran for cover but could only grab a shield before the Monstrous Nightmare destroyed the weapon wall with its giant and powerful foot.

Having little to no place to go she continued to run holding the shield up as her only protection. As she looked back to see where the dragon was, she tripped over one of the fallen hammers and slid to the ground. Before she could regain her footing to run again the dragon pinned her down between its foot and the ground. There was an axe within arm's reach that she could use to set herself free, but she refused to hurt the dragon in anyway. Everyone could see the axe and see her under the dragon's foot not even reaching for it.

"Grab the axe." Everyone was shouting at her. But she didn't listen to them. She didn't even hear her father yell at her to 'kill the devil!' She couldn't.

Just as she watched the dragon's mouth open and get ready to shoot fire at her for the final time, there was an explosion from above them. The arena was filled with smoke and the next thing Skullette knew she was free and being pulled into the arms of someone else. "Skully? Are you alright?" It was Gunnar. He kept his word and came when she needed him most.

"Yes, thank you." She looked up into his emerald green eyes and smiled at him lightly before the moment was broken by growling and hissing coming from behind them.

The smoke was clearing, and the two dragons were visible to the everyone. Murmurs of 'Night Fury' were heard among the crowd as Nightingale fought off the Nightmare with bites and clawing. Once the two were separated, the Nightmare was backed into its cage by the Night Fury and stayed there as she glared at it.

The two teens are brought back to reality when Bundar yelled with great might, "Silence!" Before staring down at his daughter and the traitor with much hatred. "What is the meaning of this? I told you to fight that dragon and kill it!"

"I won't kill a dragon! They won't hurt us! They fight us to survive!" Skullette yelled back at him stepping closer to Nightingale with Gunnar following her.

"You will turn your back on your Village? On your own father? For a monster that has killed hundreds of us?" He asked in shock and anger. His eyes glaring down at her as if daring her to say yes.

"And We Have Killed Thousands Of Them!" Skullette glared back at her father secretly telling him that she was no longer afraid of him. She watched as his hammer slipped from his fingers in surprise.

"Then you are a traitor and I will kill you myself!" Bundar said taking an axe that was next to him and jumped into the arena from the hole Nightingale made.

Acting quickly, Gunnar grabbed the axe that was next to him. The same axe Skullette refused to use against the Nightmare. And stood defensively in front of Nightingale and Skullette. "You'll face me first. How can a father say he will kill his only child?" Gunnar said angrily at the man in front of him. In his eyes, this man was anything but wise.

Bundar started to laugh at this statement. Some thought he was mad at the time until he stopped and pointed his axe at Skullette who was now on the Night Fury's back. "That child is not mine. She was a peace offering from another village we were fighting with 16 years ago. To kill her would mean nothing to me." His face read no sympathy for the girl. He had not only disowned her but declared that she was never his daughter to begin with.

"Which village?" Gunnar asked angrily. How dare this man say this and laugh about it. Skullette was an offering of peace and he was laughing at her.

"What does it matter now? She is going to die today anyways. And you along with her!" He yelled advancing on the young Viking prodigy.

Just as the man's axe came down, Gunnar deflected it by using the middle of the double-sided axe to push it away and make a strike with the tips of the axe. This did nothing when Bundar side stepped out of the way. Using this to his advantage he smashed a fist into the boy's ribcage and flung him into the wall.

He advanced slowly on the teen grinning in triumph at the sight of him. "Even after that beating I gave you, you still come back for more. I won't show mercy this time. Good bye and may Hel have mercy on your soul." He raised his mighty axe into the air and grinned evilly down at the teen in front of him. Bringing it down to slice the boy's skull open, it was suddenly shot out of the man's hand and an arrow was protruding from the palm of the hand the axe had dropped from. The axe missed Gunnar and fell to the floor next to him.

Bundar turned around to see who had dared shoot at him. His eyes landed on Skullette holding her bow in one hand and glaring at him. "I will shoot another, and it will go through your heart next if you don't tell me who my parents really are." She ordered. She would not let him control her any more, not when he was not and never was her father. He never even acted like one to her.

He laughed at her heartily. "You will die before the very name passes my lips. However, I will tell you that only your brother and father still live. Your mother died back when you were born. Being second born, it was you who caused your mother's death."

Laughter filled the arena as everyone watched what she would do next. She looked at Nightingale for a moment before grinning. She turned her head back to Bundar and grinned proudly at him. His laughter ceased, and he just stared at her for a moment wondering why she was smiling. "Thank you. I now know that I not only still have a father, but a twin brother as well." She pulled out an arrow quickly notching it into place. Pulling back and aiming, she readied to hit her mark.

Bundar looked at her like she was stupid. With his attention fully on Skullette, Gunnar took his chance and using his axe quickly slashed at his right leg causing blood to spill, he ran for Nightingale at this point, but Bundar was on his tail as if the scratch hadn't happened. Thinking quickly, Gunnar took the axe and wrapped the curved portion around the back of Bundar's calf and pulled, tripping Bundar and knocking him to the ground. Bundar screamed in pain as the gash opened more and rubble, dirt, and broken metal got in the open wound. Skullette let her arrow fly at this point and it hit the mark. The rope keeping the arena door closed snapped making the door open for them.

She sat down on Nightingales lower neck and Gunnar came up behind her. As he sat down Nightingale ran for the door and up the ramp. As she reached the top of the entrance, she opened her wings and with one great flap they were in the air. They circled the arena to show everyone that it was possible to fly a dragon before going over the top of the stage and out of sight.

They landed in the small area Skullette first met Nightingale to grab the basket of supplies Skullette had gathered before making their way West to the main shore. They would hide there for a few days to throw their old village off. Then they would start the search for Skullette's father and twin brother.

When they were on the boarder of the island, they looked back to say good bye. "Will you miss it?" Skullette asked Gunnar, looking at him for a moment before her eyes went back to look at the island.

"No. Not really." Gunnar said before turning his attention to the girl in front of him. "We should go before they start sending ships after us?"

With a nod she set Nightingale west and in a few short flaps the island was out of sight and they were on their way.

Finally, after hours of flying on Nightingale, they could see land just a head. Unfortunately, Gunnar wasn't fairing too well. His ribs hurt and the pain was starting to get to him. So much so that he was having a hard time holding on to Skullette's hips. Feeling Gunnar's grip loosen she looked back at him to see if everything was alright. Big mistake, the moment she moved his grip released her and he fell off of Nightingale towards the ocean surface.

"Gunnar!" Skullette yelled before directing Nightingale to go after him. As they dropped down after him, Skullette could see he was now unconscious and would drown if they didn't catch him in time. They kept getting closer and closer to the ocean, but at the last possible moment Nightingale grabbed him and held him in her claws before gaining some altitude and going back toward the main land.

With a sigh of relief, Skullette relaxed and tried to figure out what caused Gunnar to pass out like that. Then she remembered, Bundar had hit him in the ribs sending him into a wall. That must be what's bothering him. Why didn't he tell her sooner? They went past many small islands they could have landed on and mended his ribs. Scowling, she clenched her fists a little tighter on the rope, glaring darkly at nothing. When she was done with him, he was going to be sorry.

They landed on the far outskirts of town in a cave big enough for Nightingale to blend in with the back of the cave, even with a fire going. Nightingale placed Gunnar on the floor while Skullette gathered dry grass and sticks to make a decent fire.

She arranged the fire place and Nightingale lit it with a small puff of flame. Once that was done, Skullette went about getting the herbs she needed to heal his sore ribs, and to make sure none of them were broken. After a few minutes of inspecting his torso, she discovered none of them were broken, but a few were fractured. She mashed some roots and grasses together into a paste and spread it over the dark blue-ish-purple bruises. As she finished tying off the wrappings, she made sure to make it tight. When she did, Gunnar shot up screaming and holding his ribs.

"So, you finally woke up." Skullette stated angrily at him, while putting all of the herbs and wrappings away.

Gunnar looked around confused, last he knew he was on Nightingale's back holding onto Skullette's slender hips, though he would never call them slender to her face. "Uh, where are we?" He asked dumbly, not realizing she was angry with him.

"We are in a cave on the main land, and you nearly fell into the freezing ocean and drowned had Nightingale not caught you in time. Next time you choose to ignore an injury, and then not tell me that you are hurt, I will keep going without you!" Skullette said while poking his bruised rip to make her point known.

Wincing in pain at every poke to his tender ribs Gunnar was able to see how worried she was about him. "You wouldn't leave me behind." He ginned at her even though his ribs ached in disagreement.

Gunnar suddenly feeling flirtatious slowly moved closer and whispered, slowly breathing into her ear, "Your conscience would get the better of you." A shiver went down her spine visibly as the wisps of warm air from his breath on her ear hit just the right places. Gunnar smirked knowing it had the affect he was after and backed off.

"Uhm, … I think you should lay down and rest now. The injury's obviously making you delirious." Skullette said trying desperately to sound not at all bothered and trying not to stutter. Not in the mood to argue, Gunnar obeyed, much to her surprise, and with that they laid down to rest for now.


	5. Traveling is Interesting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its the first stop after leaving Gurand for our two heroes. Let's see how this works out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to post. I have been in the middle of moving. Now that I am done, I can post these on time. Trying for every Sunday, if not every other Sunday. Thanks for your patience and enjoy!

Gunnar was the first to slowly awaken from the long nights sleep. As he slowly blinked his eyes open and his senses returned, he felt a weight on his left shoulder. He didn't remember falling asleep with the weight there last night; and the rock wall he was sleeping against had a flat surface protruding out of it that he was leaning on with his right side.

Looking over at the weight on his shoulder, he was greeted by a head of dark auburn hair unlike his own dirty blond. At a closer inspection, he realized it looked very familiar to him, it was then that the events from the night before came back. Looking around he could just make out the outline of Nightingale sleeping near the back of the cave, which if anyone had come in during the night wouldn't have seen her. The fire was on embers in front of him, but the one person he didn't see was Skullette, which only brought him back to the head of hair that was on his shoulder.

Upon closer inspection, now that he was fully awake, he could make out the girl’s legs that were nearly tucked underneath her. Traveling up, he could see where her skirt met her waist and then all he saw was hair. He tried to move to see her face, but in doing so, she slid from his shoulders and onto his lap gently. When she didn't wake, he relaxed and went back to observing her.

Her face looked soft and looked to be glowing in the small rays of the sun that leaked in through the cave entrance, as her hair shaped it. Her eyes hidden behind her luscious eye lashes and her plump red lips that yelled at him to kiss her. Her chest and stomach rouse with every breath she took making his eyes linger for only a moment before going back to her face and her lips. A blush rose slightly to his face, but before it had time to fully appear, the girl in his lap began to stir. He decided to flirt with her for teasing him as she slept, just to have a little fun.

He started playing with her hair as he stared down at her with a look that would make any woman swoon over him. Skullette's eyes fluttered open slowly and the world became clear to her, but as she looked around, she knew something was different. "Good morning. I take it you slept well. You were all over me this morning." Skullette's eyes became more focused before she turned her head to the left to look up at the man staring down at her with that look of his. A blush came to her face before she shot up and scooted to where she had fallen asleep beside him.

Her heart was pounding in her ears as he kept looking at her like that. The moment was interrupted as both of their stomachs growled loudly. "I … I think we should go look for some food." She said getting up and walking to the cave entrance. She turned around to face Nightingale, "If you want to go hunting Nightingale, just remember to stay out of sight. We don't know how people on the main land will react to seeing a dragon." Going back out, she breathed in the cool morning air and looked around.

They were surrounded by many different types of trees, with the sun shining through the thin branches as the wind gently made them sway in the breeze. Birds sang and the wind blew gently through her hair. It was so peaceful here. No war to fight, no villagers looking down on you, and no father, or rather step father, telling you how to be a true Viking. As she looked out at the wilderness, Gunnar came up beside her. "Shall we look for something to eat or just stare at the scenery all day?" he half joked.

Skullette gave him a sideways glance before a blush came to her face and she had to turn away to hide it, remembering that mornings wake up call. She started walking up the side of the mountain that the cave was carved into, to make it to the village. "Let's just get going, shall we?" She replied as calmly as possible. Gunnar silently followed seeing as she didn't want to talk to him at the moment.

As they continued their climb, the silence was starting to get to Gunnar so in attempt at a conversation, he brings up when he fell. "You know Skullette. I don't really know what happened yesterday. All I remember is holding on to your hips and then nothing. Could you tell me what happened after I blacked out?" He asked.

"I already told you. You dropped down to the ocean and just before you hit it, Nightingale caught you and we made our way to the main land. You still being unconscious for being an idiot nearly broke your ribs in the fall. I had to bandage you up and make sure you healed properly. For being a weapons expert, you sure don’t use your brain very often when taking care of yourself after a fight." Skullette ranted angrily. She was still pissed that he hadn't told her that he was so badly hurt, especially when they could have stopped and prevented his fall in the first place.

Gunnar winced at the anger in her voice and chose to be quiet for a while, making the climb very quiet for the rest of the way. The silence was starting to get to him, but as he listened to the nothingness around him, he could hear a humming sound in the wind. This humming wasn't of birds' wings or any animal that he had ever known. No, this humming was of singing, someone was singing softly, probably to themselves. He turned to ask if Skullette had heard it but when he looked at her, he saw her lips closed and the sound was getting louder as he got closer to her.

Skullette glanced down at Gunnar to make sure that he wasn't falling behind when she saw his stare. She quickly stopped humming her mothers, or was that her step mothers, song and started moving faster. A call of "Hey, Wait up! Why the sudden rush?" from Gunnar as he struggled to get his footing to stay in the snow.

Finally, she reached a good high point off the side of the mountain. Looking down the other side, she could see smoke rising from the houses of a small village. They had sheep and chicken and many more animals that she had never seen before in pens and marked off fields. Gunnar came up beside her taking in a deep breath. "Alright, so to the village." He stated. He looked around him and found two large pieces of bark that were almost as tall as they were. Grinning at her he tossed her one before stepping onto his own, he began snowboarding down the snow-covered mountain in glee. Sighing, she followed him the same way. As she dodged rocks and trees, she couldn't help but laugh out loud at how much fun this was. He may be a pain sometimes, but at least he knew how to lighten the mood.

As they reached the bottom, they left the bark and headed into the village to attain some food and maybe some supplies as well.

The village was small; a few homes here and there, a blacksmith shop, a trading post, and an inn. Skullette had been able to sneak some of Bundar's money away in her basket without his noticing. So, when she left, the money was hers and he couldn't say she stole it.

They headed into the Inn for some dagmal and acted like this was a normal thing for travelers to do. Sitting down at a table, a barmaid came over and asked them what they would like. Skullette ordered a chicken leg, an apple with a mug of mead, while Gunnar had a lamb leg, an apple and pear, and a mug of mead to wash it down. The barmaid went and put in the order, bringing back their mugs a few moments later. Taking a sip, Gunnar choked it down for a moment. “The taste of it doesn’t get any better.”

“Still safer to drink than water.” Skullette muttered back.

As they sat there talking, Skullette noticed three of the men in the far corner of the bar looking over at her. Gunnar had been watching them out of the corner of his eyes for some time now as well. He didn't know why, but he didn't like the way the three were looking at Skullette. When Gunnar noticed one of the guys was about to get up, the barmaid came over with their food. The man sat back down and Gunnar relaxed slightly but still kept an eye on them.

"Don't pay any attention to them Gunnar. They just want a girl to take home for the day. You can relax now." Skullette said as she noticed him glancing over at them every now and then. She took a bite out of her chicken leg, completely ignoring the men in the far corner.

At her words, he relaxed a little more and enjoyed his meal. At least, he was until he noticed the men from before, standing next to them and staring down at Skullette as if had just been handed the whole goat to eat.

"Can I help you with something?" Skullette asked, not even looking up at him, yet sounding calm as though his presence didn't matter to her.

"Me and my buddies have a wager and I was wondering if you could settle it." He had a gruff voice which was deep and seductive at the moment, and Gunnar did not like where this was going at all.

"What kind of wager?" Skullette asked, sitting back to look at the man with her piercing forest green eyes, stunning the man for a moment as he was drawn to them.

Coming back to reality at a growl from Gunnar, the man grinned. Apparently happy he was pissing the young man off. "We were wagering on whether or not you want to have some fun with us, is all." His grin was wide, and he was towering over Skullette now, trying to whisper his intentions to her, yet still in ear shot of Gunnar.

Before Skullette could respond, Gunnar was standing, his seat clattered to the ground, fist stretched out where the man had been, and the gruff man was on the floor with a slight red mark on his face. He was staring at the boy that had just dared to strike him.

"She would never go anywhere with an asshole like you. So why don't you go on a date with yourself, cause it’s just you and your hand tonight!" Gunnar said standing over the guy, ready to send him to Valhalla.

The man just grinned and stood up, towering over Gunnar by about a foot. "And who are you to say that she doesn't want to come with me? Maybe she is just waiting for the right moment to be rid of a runt like you, and have a real man show her how it's done." He was smiling waiting for Gunnar to react to this comment.

"You are going to be so sorry you said that." Gunnar said bringing back his fist and getting a good hit into the man's stomach. Or at least he thought so. The man only laughed as he puffed out his chest.

"You think you could take me down so easily?" He laughed more, before bringing back his own fist and striking it towards Gunnar's face.

In one swift motion, Gunnar evaded the fist by squatting and bringing his foot behind the man. He was able to swing his leg under him and knock the man to the ground. The man hit the floor hard as Gunnar righted himself and faced him, ready for more. The man quickly got up and started swinging his fist at him, while Gunnar ducked and dodged the fists before finding an opening at the man's side and put his own fist into it.

The man stopped mid punch to hold his side and try to get his breath back. That was his first mistake, Gunnar took this opportunity to slam his fists a few times, directly, into the man's face. A tooth and blood flew from the man's mouth before Gunnar's foot slammed into it, making the man fall to the ground. Feeling as though the man was going to stay down, Gunnar started to walk away only for a foot to slam into his back making him fly, gut first, into a table. Gunnar spun around and out of the way as a fist came down on the table, smashing it into pieces. Gunnar then jumped up, pressing his feet against the wall and used it to launch himself at the attacking man, wrapping his arms around the man’s torso and slamming him into the ground.

While the boys fought, Skullette decided to ask the barmaid about the man Gunnar was fighting.

"Excuse me, but what can you tell me about the man my… boyfriend is fighting?" Skullette asked glancing from the barmaid to the boys punching and kicking each other. Skullette figured if she said he was her boyfriend; the fight wouldn't look stupid or pointless to anyone but her.

The barmaid looked away from the half-destroyed dining area, to see Skullette, who stood in front of her. "He's the black smith. One of the strongest protectors here. I've never seen him fight like this. What started it?"

Skullette had to think about how to answer this question carefully, without looking stupid for not taking his offer. "He said he wanted me to go back to his place so he and his buddies could have some fun. I have a boyfriend, who I care about very much. A ‘little fun’, isn't fair to him, so I turned him down or rather, my boyfriend is showing him I'm not interested, for me. I'm sorry about the tables and chairs."

A crash from the door breaking, via the man's fist, was heard shortly after the explanation. "And the door." Another fist slammed into the fire pit stones. "And the fire pit." A final slam was heard as the man ran into the wall making it become a hole in a semi-shape of his body. "And the wall." Taking out a few gold coins she handed them to the maid. "This is for the meal and some of the damage. Again, I am so sorry for any trouble we may have caused. Thank you, once more, for the meal." She said before making her way through the broken door and outside where the two men were still fighting.

The blacksmith looked to be breathing heavily, while Gunnar looked like he was barely breaking a sweat. After all, he was only dodging while the man was doing all the punching.

"Well little man, you're better than I thought. But that won't save you from me for much longer. Your little beauty will be mine and there is nothing, you can do, to stop me." He said with an evil smile. This is the point where Gunnar wasn't going to play nice any more. Not only had he referred to Skullette as an object to be won but he insulted him, and he was not going to just stand by and take it.

While Gunnar ran at the man, ready to continue the fight, Skullette was shopping at the trading post as if nothing was happening. The man there was busy watching the fight that he didn't even see Skullette come up to him. She grabbed a basket, herbs, wrappings, food, and a few jars of wax. When she was done, she moved to pay for it, only to have to get the man's attention first.

"Excuse me." She called bringing the man to look at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry miss. What can I help you with today?" He asked.

"I just need these, and some information." She explained.

Now Gunnar and the man were both breathing hard. Gunnar was more bruised up then he was before, but otherwise fine. While the other man was bleeding from cuts on his arms, legs, chest and face. When Gunnar stopped to catch his breath, he kept his eyes on the man to make sure he didn't try anything. That's when he noticed all of the cuts on the man. He had never hit him with anything sharp to make the cuts, so how…? That's when he remembered. His Crossbow was still on his arm. That was what had caused all of the scratches. Every time he went to punch him, and he missed, his cross bow nicked the man. "Time to end this." He told the man as he readied his cross bow.

"What are you talkin' about. We're only just getting started!" He yelled, running at Gunnar.

Having finished loading his cross bow, Gunnar aimed at the man's leg and fired. The arrow dug into the man's calf with little effort and the blacksmith plummeted to the ground with a loud thud.

Seeing that the battle was over Gunnar let out a breath of relief and walked up to the man but stayed just out of arms reach. "Stay away from my girl." Gunnar threatened before walking off to find Skullette.

She had been headed his way when the man fell to the ground. "You get that out of your system now?" She asked rather calmly, walking passed him.

"Uh, yes." Gunnar said, a little confused by her comment, before following her like a baby dragon to its mother.

As they made their way around the mountain, not really willing to climb the mountain after Gunnar's fight with the Blacksmith. Gunnar couldn't help but wonder what she had been up to while he fought or where she got all the stuff in the basket. "So, what were you up to while I was defending your honor?" he asked. That question was a very big mistake to ask.

Skullette spun around on her heal and glared at him. "I was collecting supplies while you were off trying to be the big hero! I never asked you to 'Defend my Honor'! I told you to ignore them. I was going to turn the man down and send him running by threatening him with the dagger on my hip! The next time you decide to 'Defend someone's Honor' Ask First!" She spun back around leaving a slack jawed Gunnar in her wake.

As he came back to his senses a moment later, his anger at her started to bubble. Quickly catching up to her, he made her stop in her tracks by grabbing her arm and spinning her around to look at him. "Listen here, I defended you because I knew what guys like that do to girls that turn them down! The last thing we need is for you to be hurt too!"

"So, your saying I can't defend myself without getting hurt?" She asked defensively.

"Yes. NO! I mean that you weren't strong enough to face him!" Gunnar tried again with little affect.

"So now I'm not strong enough. Is that it?" Her anger was starting to get the better of her at this point, so much so that he no longer had to hold her in place to face him.

He glared darkly at her. "Now you're just twisting my words around!" He yelled at her, rather pissed off.

"Well you're not making your point very clear!" Skullette yelled back at him.

Gunnar just glared at her before storming off in the direction of camp. "And you women wonder why chivalry is dead! Chivalry is dead because feminism killed it!" he shouted over his shoulder at her angrily.

She watched him go for a moment before muttering about hot headed macho men trying to prove something.

The walk back to camp had been a silent one, aside from the crunching of snow and frozen grass beneath their feet as they climb up to the cave. Neither uttered a word to the other, and when they entered the cave Nightingale could tell from the tension between them that something had happened, and it wasn't good. She made her way over to Skullette while growling in Gunnar's direction in the process.

"You have the dragon on your side as well? Women are all the same." Gunnar said before going and sitting in the same spot he had the night before.

He wouldn't admit it, but he hurt, bad. That man was strong and had gotten a few good punches in. Just moving the wrong way hurt like Hel. Though he wouldn't ask for Skullette's help at the moment. They were too mad at each other.

In the meantime, Skullette was whispering what had happened back in town. But instead of nuzzling and comforting her like normal, Nightingale looked at her with a tilted head and walked over to Gunnar before laying her head next to him. At this action Skullette's jaw dropped.

Gunnar looked just as confused at the dragon's actions, and when he looked up at Skullette he could tell she was even more shocked. While neither of them could tell what this action was all about. Nightingale was siding with Gunnar only because he had protected Skullette when she could not.

The next morning was a cold but sunny one. The birds were chirping, greeting the morning sun as they went about their simple day. It was to this music that Skullette awoke from her night's sleep. She had slept alone on the opposite side of the cave as Gunnar. Nightingale had moved back to her original spot in the back of the cave, and Gunnar had stayed where he was when they got back.

Opening her eyes, she blinked a few times as the sun light peaked in before looking around the cave. The fire was in embers and Nightingale was still in the back of the cave, seemingly asleep. When she turned to see if Gunnar was awake, she was shocked to discover he was missing. Getting up quickly she stepped outside to look for him.

"Gunnar." She called as loud as she dared. She didn't know what kinds of animals lived on the main land, but at the moment she didn't want to find out. She just wanted to find Gunnar and make sure he wasn't doing something stupid again. "Gunnar!"

Finally, after searching the woods for over an hour she came across a pond that was only a few hundred yards from the cave. Deciding to sit for a moment she headed to the edge of the small pond to get a drink, only to stop in her tracks when she saw the back of the one person she had been looking for. He was sitting at the edge of the pond with her bag of herbs, remedies, and wrappings.

He was struggling to put the bandages on his arm. Not being able to watch him suffer any more, she decided to go over and help him.

"You keep this up and we won't have any herbs left." Skullette said in calm voice, not wanting to start another fight. She sat down and took the bandages in one hand, holding his arm in the other to keep it still.

"I don't need your help. I can do it on my own." Gunnar said stubbornly.

"No, you just don't want to talk to me right now cause you’re still mad, but the truth is that you need my help because you can't wrap these bandages on your arm by yourself." Skullette said tying it off to keep it tight. "There you go, all better. Now let's get going, we have a ways to go." She got up and started to head back to the cave grabbing all of her herbs before going.

Gunnar was rather pissed at this point. Getting up, he ran to get in front of Skullette and glared down at her. "You are such a hypocrite, you know that?!" He yelled at her. "I told you I didn't need your help just like you claimed to not have needed mine back at the bar in town yesterday!"

Skullette glared back up at him. "I didn't help you because you needed it. I helped you because they are my herbs and bandages you were using! There is a difference between fighting and helping out of survival!" Skullette yelled back at him. "We don't know when we will run into these plants again so we need to save as much as we can!"

"That's no excuse! It's still the same situation! I told you I didn't need your help and you helped me anyways, making you a hypocrite!" He yelled at her before both went silent. They just glared at one another for a long while until Gunnar sighed in frustration. Turning around he started heading towards the cave. "Fuck it, let's just continue the journey."

After a few steps he notices that Skullette wasn't following him. Turning around he saw that she was looking down at the ground, her small amount of bangs that had grown out the past few weeks hiding her eyes. Walking over to her with another sigh, he grabbed a hold of her wrist and tugged her slightly in the direction of the cave.

A sudden 'slap' was heard in the surrounding trees as the birds that had once been singing and flying by now stopped as everything became still. Skullette's hand was still in the air, just past Gunnar's face. A rather nice red hand print was displayed on his cheek, right where Skullette had struck him. When he looked to see her expression her bangs still hid her eyes. Managing to refrain from hitting her, he couldn't hold back his anger. Getting up in her face once again, or rather towering over her and trying to look into her eyes only to see blond bangs blocking his view, he yells, "To quote a girl I respect, 'I Can Take Care Of My Self!' " and with that being his last word, he ran off back into the woods.

While Skullette had managed to stay upright and hold back her emotions she was unable to do so any longer, now she was all alone. Falling to her knees she let the tears slip past her eyes and fall onto the ground only to have the rain join them. She didn't care about the rain, she didn't even care what happened to her now. All that she cared about, was gone from her life, and she had no idea on how to bring it back.


	6. Life on the Road, er, Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is it trouble or progress? You be the judge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I missed more than one Sunday to post a chapter, I am posting this one as well. I hope you all enjoy.

The rain was beating down hard outside the cave Gunnar had found in his haste to get away from Skullette. His cheek still stung but it was nothing compared to the pain he felt in his aching heart. She had slapped him after everything that they had gone through. She had slapped him, and he felt as though the world had stopped at that very moment. But one thing still bothered him. Why had she slapped him? She wasn't the violent type, in the few actually fighting practices they did out in the woods back on Gurand, he had learned that she would injure or disable before she would even think about killing someone. Even when it meant her life.

He was merely waiting for the rain to stop at this point. He didn't know where he would go from here, but he didn't care. It was then that he looked down at his bandaged arm. Skullette had complained about not needing help with the man that was flirting with her back in town, but did he need her to help him with his arm? "There is a difference between fighting and helping out of survival!" that is what Skullette had said. Was there a difference? He had always been fighting. It seemed so natural to him. He couldn't see if there was a difference or not. At least not until he thought back to Skullette and the village.

The villagers had always treated her like a disease. Like she would kill them if they touched her in any way. But she never fought back physically; she just faced it and kept going. Was she always fighting silently? She never raised a hammer to the villagers, but she always tried to prove them wrong. Show that she was capable of fighting like they were. She didn't fight with a weapon. She fought with her head, and her remedies.

"We don't know when we will run into these plants again and need to save as much as we can!" Did she have a point? The herbs worked well, but she had said there was enough to last the village till spring… hadn't she? What if she had said that to make the villagers believe she was done with her herbs. If this was true, how much was there really? 

He was brought out of his thoughts by a loud growling cry from outside the cave. Getting up and walking to the edge he glanced outside trying to see what was out there. Another cry, this time closer. Why did it sound so familiar to him? That's when he saw the black mass walking just outside the cave entrance. Nightingale, what was she doing here? Why wasn't she with Skullette? He was sure she would have gone back to the cave when the rain started. But then why would Nightingale be out in this weather? All dragon's hated getting to wet he mussed as Nightingale continued to roar out into the woods? Finally, he decided he couldn't let her stay out there by herself.

He ran out into the pouring rain to get to the mighty dragon. "Nightingale!" he called over the storm. The dragon turned to see him running to her. Deciding to make it easier for them both, she bounded over to him. "Nightingale, we have to get inside where it’s safe. Follow me, I found a cave not too far from here!" He turned on his heal and headed the few feet it took to get back to the cave.

Once both were inside, Nightingale shook off all the water on her scales before burning the ground below her in a circle to warm up.

Gunnar went back over to his spot against the wall after ringing out his damp clothes. He relaxed and looked at Nightingale for a moment before speaking. "What are you doing out in this weather, Nightingale? Skullette would never have let you outside."

Hearing her riders name being said, Nightingale lifted her head in order to look around the cave in hopes of finding something. When she didn't see what she was looking for, she got back up and started looking all over the cave in a slight panic. Gunnar watched her carefully at this point, not sure what she was looking for. After a moment Nightingale's eyes fell onto Gunnar's and he could see the worry and anger in them, directed at him no less. Not being able to resist any more, he asked the question that had been bothering him ever since he first saw her outside in the rain. "What are you looking for?"

She advanced toward him so quickly, he had to push his body back against the rock wall in order to keep a safe distance. She had a look on her face that, if she could speak, would be around the line of, "Where is it?" or "What have you done with it?" She stopped in front of him and growled down at the young man, as if expecting an answer.

"Why aren't you with Skullette back in the cave?" He decided to ask in attempt to make her stop looking at him with murder.

Nightingale stopped as she heard the honest confusion in his voice and looked at him with wide eyes in realization, before looking out into the storm again. Following her gaze, Gunnar wondered what the dragon was planning. That's when he realized she was going to go back out into the storm. "Nightingale, no. I’m not letting you go back out into that storm." Not listening to him, she bounded back outside and started roaring again. Confusing Gunnar for a minute. Why was she doing this? Skullette would never…. Then it dawned on him. She was looking for Skullette. Had she not gone back to the cave? Was she still out in the storm? Another roar bellowed over the rain.

If she was still out there…. He had to find her; the storm was bad and if she wasn't under some type of shelter and safe, he would never forgive himself. He had been the last one to be with her. Nightingale had no idea where she had been outside of the cave, they were staying in. Making up his mind, he got up and followed after the dragon. He came up beside Nightingale and yelled over the storm, "You're looking for Skully, aren't you?" A nod was his response from the dragon. "I don't know where she went but I know where I last saw her. I can take you there, come on." They quickly made their way back to the pond.

As they reached the side of the pond where Gunnar had last seen Skullette, he couldn't believe his eyes. She was laying on the ground, in the same spot as when he ran off. Why hadn't she moved? Gone and found a cave? Stayed warm and rode the storm out? Why was she still here? Running over to her, he yelled her name but got no response. She didn't move or speak. He rolled her over and found her eyes closed. She had passed out, but why?

A small roar next to his head brought him back. Now was not the time for questions. He had to get Skully out of the rain and where it's warm. Picking her up in his arms, he hopped onto Nightingale's back and she took them back to the cave without a word.

Reaching the cave, Gunnar hopped down from Nightingale’s back and gently placed the soaked Skullette on the floor next to the cold firepit. The worried Night Fury went over to her rider, after shaking off all of the water from her scales and laid down, wrapping a wing around her to warm her slowly so she didn't freeze to death. Body heat was the best way to warm someone up after being out in a storm like that, if she was warmed any other way; she could catch a cold or worse, die. Meanwhile, Gunnar was putting dried sticks he and Skullette had collected the day before and started a fire.

Making his way over to the Dragon and her rider he bent down over Skullette to see if she was getting any warmer. When his hand touched her forehead, he was in shock at how hot she was. It was then that he realized that her breathing was labored, and she was shivering. She was too cold and wet. The body heat and fire weren't enough.

A blush came to his face as he realized what he had to do. He had to get Skullette's wet clothes off of her. That was a violation of her personal space and body, but he would rather be hated for seeing part of her bare skin than to see her die from hypothermia knowing he could have prevented it.

Making up his mind, he went to Skullette’s pack and got out a set of new clothes to dress her in after he gets the wet clothes off of her. Finding the clean clothes, he went back over to Skullette and Nightingale. "I'm sorry for having to do this Skullette but seeing as you're not going to wake up any time soon, and could die if I don't change you, I really have no other choice." With that and a prayer to the gods above to keep him alive after this, he went to work.

First, he took off her fur jacket, then went for the shirt. Just as he moved it past her stomach, he heard Nightingale growl and cover Skullette from his eyes, while nipping at his hands to make him let go of her shirt. Looking up at the angry dragon and glared back at her. "If I don't take off these wet clothes, she will freeze to death! Is that what you want?" he yelled at her, angrily.

Nightingale seemed to think it over for a moment before lifting her wing off of Skullette just enough for Gunnar to grab the shirt. As soon as his fingers grasped the fabric, her wing came back down to cover Skullette. Just enough of her body so Gunnar couldn't see anything but her face.

Gunnar took a moment to smile at the dragon beside him and heard a soft growling purr come from the protective Night Fury. He looked back at Skullette and pulled her shirt off making her arms lift up with the shirt and slide out of the sleeves slowly.

He laid her head gently back down onto the ground before moving around the dragon's wing to the other side. This was the tricky part, how to get her pants off without seeing her top or anything that he shouldn't.

Once again it seemed Nightingale had an idea. Tightening her wing toward her rider’s body, she was able to keep the majority of Skullette's body covered, while Gunnar was able to see the girl’s pants and nothing above that.

Taking a deep breath, he went to her pants and loosened them before taking the sides down slightly past her hips. As he did So Nightingale's wing tightened around her rider, covering any skin that was exposed to the young man. She did this by flexing the back of her wing to lay closer to the floor as if she was coming in for a landing. Once he finally had the girl’s pants off of her, he hung them along with her shirt and jacket on a rock close to the fire so they could dry properly. Her shoes were placed close to the fire to dry as well, while he dressed Skullette in her warm dry clothes.

Grabbing the dry clothes, he made his way back over to the dragon wing covered girl and started dressing her. Starting with her legs first. He slipped one foot in and then the other, making sure not to look up from her feet as he lifted her legs one at a time to put her pants on correctly. Once he had them up to her mid-thigh he sighed again. This was the hardest part of all, he had to get the pants up to her waist but in order to do that he had to go past her hips, and that meant seeing more then he should.

A growl alerted him to the dragon the wing was attached to. She was glaring darkly at him, as if warning him that if he did anything stupid, she promised him pain. Letting out a breath, he grabbed the sides of the pants and pull up past her hips while looking at the stone wall to his right.

Feeling a strong resistance, he believed the pants were all the way up past her hips and that it was safe to look down. To his utter embarrassment, he saw her lower abdomen as well as some blond short hair, he still had four inches to go till he was at her waist but found that they didn't go any higher. Taking a look at the pants now, he noticed that they were made slightly shorter than the ones that were drying. Deciding to give them one more tug for good measure, he quickly tied them.

Getting up Nightingale could see his blush and growled at him. "I didn't see anything." He defended, to shocked at what he had seen to be angry at being accused.

He moved around to the front of the wing and took one of Skullette’s arms and put it through the shirt sleeve completely, doing the same with the second, and finally getting it over her head. He pushed her up to a sitting position so that her back was the only thing facing him and pulled the shirt down till it went past the top of her pants.

Relieved that, that was over with, he gently laid her back down and Nightingale covered the girl enough to keep her warm. He went over to check on the wet clothes and found that the boots were now dry and warm. He quickly took them over to the girl and placed them on her feet. Feeling he had done everything he could, he sat down in front of the firepit and started to cook some fish, hoping Skullette would wake up soon.

Later, Gunnar still sat by the fire, stomach full but his worry was far from gone. Skullette, while she had stopped shaking, hadn't woken up yet. He kept the fire burning and checked on Skullette from time to time, but there was only the slight warmth of her skin returning. Feeling her forehead, he could tell her fever finally broke, so now he had to make sure that her temperature didn't drop drastically. If it did, it would be very bad for her and she might get worse.

Nightingale made a small noise making Gunnar look up from the fire and see what had roused the mighty dragon. He watched as Nightingale examined Skullette. She sniffed her and nudged her nose against Skullette's arm while whining quietly.

Gunnar's eyes moved to the girl that had the Night Fury’s attention not believe his eyes. Skullette was waking up and was going to be just fine. With a sigh of relief, he slowly walked over to the rider and her dragon. "So, you finally returned to the land of the living." He half joked. As he watched her open her eyes, he noticed something. She was awake but she wasn't aware of what was going on around her or that he had said anything to her. Her eyes were dull and looked as though the very life was taken right out of them.

"Skully?" he called to her gently. No response. However, she did turn her head to look at him. Some part of her was at least conscious. "Come on, Skully. I cooked some fish, are you hungry?" he asked in hopes of getting at least some kind of response out of her.

She just looked at him for a moment before turning away and looking up at the ceiling. Closing her eyes slowly, she went back to sleep.

A whine came from the mighty dragon before she laid her head back down next to Skullette's. Wrapping herself around the girl, as if protecting her like a mother would her child. Gunnar moved closer and wiped Skullette’s bangs out of her face. He watched as her breathing slowed and her body moved to curl closer to the warmth that was Nightingale.

Taking a long look at her, he couldn't help but notice that she looked tired. More so than she normally did. As if she had just spent the last few nights with no sleep. What had caused this change in her so suddenly? Had it been their fight? Had he hurt her that badly? All he did was stand up for her. Then something clicked in his head. When was the last time someone actually stood up for Skullette? Certainly no one on Gurand, no they had treated her like a parasite, something that didn’t belong. Her own father thought very little of her. The only one that Skullette ever spoke of with a smile, was her mother, or rather, step mother, now that they knew that Skullette was an offering of peace. She probably didn’t know what it was like to have someone defend her without expecting something in return.

He remained by her side that night, less worried than before, but still concerned for her well-being. He only ever got up to feed the fire in order to keep the cave warm. It was during one of these treks that he looked outside. The rain had turned into a light snow and was gradually coming to stop, which was a good thing. It meant they could leave as soon as Skullette was feeling better.

Making his way back over to Nightingale, he noticed her watching him with her head still on the floor. He had gotten better at reading her facial expressions. This one was a light glare, but he couldn't tell what she was trying to tell him. Shrugging it off for now, he sat down next to them and started to relax. Skullette had yet to wake up consciously, and if she didn't soon… Well, he didn't want to think about it right now. He just needed to figure out how to get her back to full health.

Deciding to sleep for a little while, he turned his head to look at Skullette for a moment before looking at Nightingale. "Wake me when the fire starts going out. I won't be of any use if I'm too tired to move." Satisfied by a small nod from Nightingale he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Gunnar was woken up by a growl and a rough shove in the direction of the firepit. He landed just at the rim of the firepit, but his hair was less lucky. It was dangerously close to the flame. So much so that when Gunnar moved his head, his hair nearly caught on fire.

Moving swiftly in his now fully awake state, he took his hair and made sure it wouldn't go up in flames. After a moment he looks over his hair only to see it darker, almost a black color on the end of his bangs.

He turned around to see who had woken him so harshly. His eyes landed on…

"What was that for?" Gunnar yelled. Nightingale had pushed him in order to wake him up. The dragon glared at him before looking down at Skullette and then at the fire. Watching her he realized, after about three times of this motion, what she was trying to tell him. The fire needed to be warmer, Skullette was getting cold.

Grabbing some wood, he got to work on making the fire warmer and then headed back over to the dragon and the shivering girl. He looked down at her sadly, only to be surprised when she opened her eyes. They were still dull but slightly more focused now.

She looked up at him slowly. Her eyes glimmering with sadness when she saw him. He watched as she didn't move, nor blink when she didn't look away. At least, not until Nightingale growled lightly to get her attention. Blinking slowly, she turned to look at her dragon partner. Reaching out a hand to her dragon’s head, she started to pet the mighty beast. Then the smallest, voice whisper filled the cave. "I'm Sorry."

Gunnar was so surprised he didn't even notice when Skullette's hand left her dragon’s head, as the girl fell back into a deep sleep. He just sat there for a long while trying to understand what she was sorry for. That's when he remembered his cheek that was stinging earlier. Or was it about his arm and her bandaging it when he told her not to? Was she really sorry about all of it? Or was she saying sorry to the dragon for worrying her?

As the sun began to rise in the sky, Gunnar stretched and looked around to see the fire just licking at the last bits of fire wood and the sun shining into the cave. The storm from last night was over, finally.

Turning around to see Nightingale still asleep he turned his attention back to the girl now back to her normal color. Her hands and forehead were warm again and the cold had left her body. Sighing in relief he added a few sticks to the fire and went out to find some food.

He came back about an hour later with a row of twelve fish over his shoulder. To his surprise Skullette was up and feeding the fire with some more wood she apparently brought back from the woods. He quickly set the fish down next to the fire before going over to Skullette. "Are you sure you should be up right now? You just got over a fever and nearly freezing to death, you should be resting."

She poked the fire a few times before turning away from him. He was about to yell at her for ignoring him, but he was stopped as her voice reached his ears. It was sad and almost sounded like she was embarrassed to say anything. "I'm sorry I freaked out on you and slapped you."

He sat there in silence for a moment before deciding to clarify which she was talking about. "Is this including the man at the bar?" he needed to make sure he knew exactly what she was apologizing for, so he knew what to do next.

A sigh crossed past her lips before she nodded her head so he could see. Understanding this entirely he thought for a moment before speaking as well. "I'm sorry I was so adamant about defending you. You can defend yourself. I just want to make sure nothing happens to you. You're my friend after all."

Faster than one could blink Skullette spun around in her spot and stared at him wide eyed. In their village she never had friends. At first it was because she was the chief's daughter, and no one wanted to disrespect the chief by making his only child injured or cry. Later as they found out she was less Viking-like then the others, they made fun of her verbally. She never once knew what having a friend was like and now, here was Gunnar telling her he did everything in the village because he was her friend. That was the reason for his actions.

This realization brought tears to Skullette's eyes before standing quickly and burying her head in his chest, crying. This action startled Gunnar before he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and back and held her tight. A muffled, "I'm Sorry." vibrated through his chest from the crying girl.

"It's okay. I know." He rubbed her back trying to get her to stop as all her frustrations over the years poured from her eyes. Every terrible word that was ever said to her; every word that was said when people thought she wasn't listening. And every word her so called father ever said about her and what he had been forcing her to do.

After a few more ‘sorry’s’ and more comforting words from Gunnar, she pulled herself back together and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Thank you, Gunnar." Skullette said smiling at him.  
He grinned back before a soft growl interrupted them. Nightingale walked over and nudged her head against Skullette's side while purring. Giggling She pat her head, "Thank you too, Nightingale."

"Well, now that that is all settled, how about we get on our way?" Gunnar suggested.

"We will, I just want to do one more thing first." Skullette said with a grin.

Nightingale and Gunnar looked at each other and then back at her confused.

Skullette and Gunnar were back in the village an hour later. "Are you sure you want to do this alone?" Gunnar asked concerned.

"I'll be fine. And if I need your help, my scream is your signal." Skullette assured him.

"Fine, but if I hear so much as a whine or whimper come from you, I'm coming out of hiding and kicking his sorry ass." Gunnar promised.

There was no arguing with that. She was about to do something completely crazy after all. It reassured both of them that he was close by just in case she did need him to bail her out. Besides, back up was always a good thing to have, especially if the enemy didn’t know about it.

"Alright, I'll be back soon." Skullette walked over to the back door of the blacksmith stall, while Gunnar hid among the trees, and knocked loudly on the wood.

The man from yesterday came to the door and grinned down at her in a way the made her stomach churn. "Well, look-y what we got here Babbitt.” He called to one of his friends inside, making the man come to the door. “The Girly came for some fun after all."

"Actually, I'm here to collect the money you owe me for the damage you caused at the bar." Skullette said calmly, while glaring at the man and his friend, who was behind him.

"Money? If anything, you owe me something, sweetie." He said before licking his lips as he moved closer to her making her take a few strides away from him. Gunnar’s fist clenched as he watched, unnoticed, from his hiding spot.

She took out her bow and notched an arrow onto it. "I wouldn't do that if you know what's good for you." She threatened, glaring darkly at him. He stopped in his tracks while glaring back at her, not really taking her threat seriously.

"What's a girl like you going to do with that? You should be in the house doing chores, making food, or better yet, under me in bed." He grinned suggestively as he eyed her up and down.

A moment later, an arrow was flying past his ear, cutting the side of it before being in bedded in door of the stall. "Like I was saying, you owe me money and I'll be taking it either by force or you could do the smart thing and hand it over." She said, notching another arrow and aiming it at him once more.

"Feisty, I like that about you." He walked closer to her, grinning like mad the whole way. "And now it's time to put you in your place." He was about to grab her when an arrow went through his crotch and he let out the most girly, high pitched cry she would ever hear. “You bitch!” He yelled in a high voice, before collapsing and passing out from the pain.

"I did warn you." Skullette muttered before walking around him and moved closer to the other blacksmith. "So, are you going to pay me, or do you want to end up like your friend over there?"

The man quickly ran over to the side room, where they stashed all of the profits for the month and came back moments late with a small sack of money, his hands trembling as he did so. "Here, half our earnings please take it."

She smiled at him and took the sack before opening it, taking only what she paid for the damages before throwing him back the bag. "Thank you, I only needed the money to pay off the debt. I’m not a thief by any means. You have a nice day. Oh, and one more thing." She turned around and shot him in the calf. "Tell no one about this. Not even if they threaten your life, because if you do, you'll end up worse than your friend over there." She said menacingly as he fell to the ground holding his leg.

Getting a pained nod, she grabbed her three arrows. One from the door, the second from the man on the ground who was still passed out, and the third that was protruding from the man's leg, making him cry in agony as she did so.

She walked away and met up with Gunnar who was waiting behind a grouping of trees, cleaning his crossbow. "Did everything go well?" he asked, while silently checking her for any scrapes or bruises.

"Better than I thought it would. We can leave now, if you're ready." She said, walking through the woods to get back to the cave where Nightingale was waiting for them. He quickly followed her, and no one knew it was them that had castrated the blacksmith and the other one claimed he had driven a nail into his leg. The blacksmith that was castrated refused to talk about what happened, only glaring whenever someone asked.

"All packed, ready to go Gunnar?" Skullette asked, as she hopped onto Nightingale's back.

"There’s just one thing that is still bothering me. How much of that medicine do you actually have?" he asked, concern not only in his voice but in his expression.

Sighing sadly, she leaned forward, holding out her hand, waiting for him to get on. "I only have two jars of antidote, a jar of healing herbs and maybe half a jar of herbs that help fight a cold or high fever, other than that I only have a few herbs that I bought here, or that I gathered while still on Gurand." She explained.

Nodding in understanding, he accepted her hand and hopped on to Nightingale before holding on to Skullette’s waist. "Alright, I'll leave the herbs and remedies to you then. I won't even touch your jars unless you ask me to." He assured her.

"Thank you, I truly appreciate that." Skullette said, grinning at him over her shoulder. A moment later, Nightingale took to the air and they were off.

Later that same day, around high noon, a ship came into harbor. A large man with brown hair and braided beard walked onto the island and seemed to be looking for something. He walked over to the closest stall which just happened to be the blacksmith. "Excuse me, have you seen a girl with auburn hair in a braid and green eyes around here? She would be traveling with a young man about the same age as herself." His voice was calm, but his green eyes told the blacksmith that if he didn't talk, he was going to die.

"N-no, no one like that came here." He quickly closed the door and secured it.

Growling, Bundar walked towards the pub to ask one of the bar maids if they had seen the two teens he was looking for. "Have you seen a girl with auburn hair in a braid and a boy traveling with her?" he asked.

She looked at him warily before deciding to answer him. "No, best to look elsewhere." Before Skullette went to the blacksmiths', she'd paid the barmaid not to tell anyone that they had been there, which took some bribing.

Growling more, Bundar left the pub and headed back to the docks, but as he reached the edge of the village, he was stopped by a man selling herbs and baskets. "I saw the girl your looking for, she didn't tell me where she was going, but her and the boy were headed for the woods. My best guess would be that they are headed south, maybe south west." The man explained.

Grinning, Bundar thanked the man before heading back to his ship and setting sail. "I'll find you, and when I do, you are going to pay dearly."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoy the story. please review and tell me what you think so far. This was originally on Fanfiction (dot) net and thought you all would enjoy this too before I post the series story I am writing.


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